Diving With Dance

DANCEWORKS PERFORMANCE MKE flatly refuses to be just one thing.

The 26-year-old company known primarily for tongue-in-cheek dance theater rebranded several years ago with a desire to further diversify an already eclectic repertoire. Lately, that has included scientific themes. Case in point: Biome is choreographer and longtime Danceworks dancer Gina Laurenzi's deep dive into the majesty and fragility of the earth's seas, informed by Laurenzi's experiences scuba diving. “When I started diving, I used to have a fear of the ocean,” says Laurenzi. “Then there was this transition to wonder and awe.”

Composer Allen Russell's original score, coral-inspired visual design and Laurenzi's characteristically liquidous groove work together to build a vibrant world of underwater flora and fauna.

“I have this hope that people forget they're watching people and just get lost in it,” says Laurenzi.

Viewers may see images hinting at marine life – octopus and jellyfish tentacles, for example, or a slithering stingray – but it's not a literal depiction of the sea. Nor is Biome an overtly political piece, though Laurenzi hopes it will spark conversations about how humans have impacted this ecosystem.

“In Wisconsin, you go on vacation and that's what your experience of the ocean is,” Laurenzi says. “I wonder if that feeling that it's so far away is why people fear it. Can we tap into that in a way that invites us in so we can learn to have a productive and healthy relationship with the ocean?”

Feb. 29-March 3 at Danceworks Studio Theatre, danceworksmke.org