Sossy Mechanics is a company that strives to communicate through our creations and performances in a way that is so clear that people get what we’re saying; so evocative that they become willing participants in imagining the worlds we create; and so engaging that they want to see more, (and they want their friends to see it, too).
Sossy Mechanics combines the “energetic and charismatic” forces of Brian Sostek and Megan McClellan, two seasoned creators and performers who happened to meet one day in a dance company. Their whimsical sensibilities and exacting standards have earned them an award-winning reputation for creating “clear, brilliant storytelling,” dances that “recall Fred and Ginger at their most playful,” and “magic out of just about nothing.”
Together, Sostek and McClellan have been devising dance and theater works since 2000. From the three-part slapstick story Ballroom Burlesque, to the sensuous and light-hearted Duets D’Amour (“the irresistible delights of the evening” Minneapolis Star Tribune), to their two full-length shows, the award-winning Trick Boxing (“the best show I have seen” New York Times; “a tiny treasure of a show” The Scotsman), and Pieces of Eight (“The pleasure here is watching people who are just fantastically good at what they do.” London Times), they have consistently met with rave reviews and audience accolades.
Megan McClellan’s first professional dance job had her portraying a “water molecule” at a sewage treatment facility for a site-specific choreographer in Minneapolis, launching her on a career that’s now spanning the globe. So far seen on three continents, her performance can range from pounding out percussive dance with Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum, to dancing the contemporary repertoire of Black Label Movement and Shapiro & Smith Dance, to executing the tango in a Los Angeles night club.
Megan’s “energetic and charismatic” style (Metro U.K.) has been employed by the Guthrie Theater, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Walker Art Center, The Minnesota Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Illusion Theater, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Hijack, Theater Latte Da, 3-Legged Race, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, Keane Sense of Rhythm, and Nautilus Music-Theater, among others.
Besides dancing for others, she co-founded the dance and theater company Sossy Mechanics with her husband Brian Sostek. Known for their Fred and Ginger style dancing, their work has toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. Ms. McClellan is a recipient of a 2003 McKnight Artist Fellowship in Dance and was named a 2012 Artist of the Year by City Pages (Minneapolis).
Since the late 1980’s, Brian Sostek has parlayed his background in various dance forms, his life long experience with comedy, and his fascination with verbal and physical play, into a successful and constantly expanding career in the arts as a writer, director, choreographer, performer and teacher.
His exploits have ranged from acting in some of Hollywood’s most quickly-cancelled sitcoms to touring internationally with percussive dance-theater company Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum to staging the King Boreas coronation ceremony at the St. Paul Winter Carnival to teaching 3rd graders how to make puppets from the junk in their desks and BFA acting students at the University of Minnesota how to dance with a partner. In 2000 he joined forces with Megan McClellan to create Sossy Mechanics.
He can frequently be seen on various stages in the Twin Cities including the Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theater Company, Ordway Center for Performing Arts, and occasionally can be heard on TV and radio as anything from a gang of monsters to an upstanding announcer guy. From the Edinburgh Fringe to the Sun Dance Channel, his award-winning work has earned him a reputation as “brilliantly versatile.” Brian is a recipient of the 2005 Sage Award for Performance and the 2010 MN Bride Magazine award for Best Dance Instructor.