The Walrus Dance Companys annual New Works Show features original choreography in modern dance alongside the short film The Cyclist. Building in momentum over four dance pieces, “Several Charming Oblique Narratives” incorporates everything from lifts to props to humorhappily omitting the awkward and bizarre narrative stretches so common in avant-garde performance. Platform, an excerpt from a longer work (to be premiered May 6-10 in Tacoma), features dance as percussion and challenges the eroticism of traditional ballet theater. The finale, Blank Slate, is performed on crumpled newsprint. As visually stunning as it is dangerous, its part troubling vision of human environmental impact and part celebration of controlled movement amid chaos. The inclusion of film in the program, a unique choice for live theater, impresses upon us the tensions between visual and performance art. Socked away in CHACs Walrus Theatre, this show is easy to overlook, but it shouldnt be. Not simply charming and edifying, its a rare opportunity to see provocative and risky art beautifully executed by talented performers. VIRGINIA ZECH 8 p.m. Fri.-Sun. Ends May 4.
Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Starts: April 25. Continues through May 4, 2008
