The Jungle Book

Out on a Limb Dance Theater Company’s inspired retelling of The Jungle Book comes with more than 60-plus young dance-actors, ages 4-to 30+ from the company’s school of the same name, and a 4-song slew of songs off the new, critically acclaimed album, Social Media Anxiety Disorder by longtime Twin Cities songwriter and rocker, Dan Israel. Artistic Director Kim Martinez has also penned a complementary new tune with veteran songwriter-producer Jeff Harrington called “Vulture Culture” with the biting, telling lines, “It doesn’t matter if you think we’re vile/we serve a purpose on earth!”

“There are several animal languages and story lines in the piece that allow us to use a different dance genre for each one. For instance:

• Tap Dance – Cheetahs
• Classical Pointe – Birds
• Contemporary Dance – Gazelles
• Hip-Hop and Acrobatics – Monkeys
• Fosse-styled Jazz and Musical Theatre -- Vultures

“What makes Kipling’s story so timeless and so universal is the young and older Mowgli’s search to discover his true self often takes place in a bewildering world where everyone seems to either want a piece of you literally, or expects you to become part of their tribe, which can often mean compromising yourself,” she says. “Our kids have really been responding well to the story’s core theme because they recognize – and maybe see themselves in the search – that finding your purpose no matter who you are is part of the human condition.”