Dance Movie Night is a series of dance films curated by FluxFlow Dance Project with an introduction and discussion about the featured work. Each night will highlight a different choreographer exploring concert dance ranging from classical, contemporary, and dance theater from various parts of the world.

This Month : Dark Matters - Crystal Pite (2009)

Price | $10

“Dark matter” is the terra incognita of our day. Comprising roughly 96 percent of the observable universe, dark matter affects the speed, structure and evolution of galaxies, yet its nature remains a mystery. This potent, affecting darkness is paralleled in Crystal Pite’s newest creation, Dark Matters. Emerging out of Pite’s curiosity and fascination with the unseen forces at work on mind and body, Dark Matters, features seven extraordinary dancers, and a stunning original score from long-time collaborator Owen Belton.

NOTES FROM CRYSTAL PITE : Dark Matters is structured into two distinct acts: Act One portrays the tension between creation and destruction through a decidedly theatrical fable; the players are manipulated by anonymous puppeteers who drive the narrative yet subvert its artifice. Act Two is pure dance, with choreography that aspires to the impossible purity and grace of a marionette, while grappling with the essential question of free will, and the conflict inherent in manipulation. The revelations of Act One inform the way we view the dancing in Act Two.

With “dark matter” beautifully embodied in the shadowy puppeteer, Dark Matters is a haunting portrait of the unknown, a performance that pulls itself apart in an attempt to discover what it’s made of.

Performers: Eric Beauchesne, Peter Chu, Sandra Marín Garcia, Yannick Matthon, Jiří Pokorný, Cindy Salgado, Jermaine Maurice Spivey

Composer: Owen Belton

Lighting Designer: Robert Sondergaard

Set Designer: Jay Gower Taylor

Costume Designer: Linda Chow