The conflict between 21st-century technology and 19th-century morality is at the center of Dancing with the Machine, FrenetiCore Dance’s first full-length narrative production in two years. “[Our current] humanity is in an era of high technological advancement, but socially and morally, many people are stuck in the 1800s. There are those who still believe the world would be a better place if women were second-class citizens and gays would simply vanish,” says FrenetiCore member Adam Castañeda.
The stylized Steampunk production follows Aida, a young, free-spirited heroine living in a postapocalyptic world who’s on a quest to challenge the society’s troublesome political climate. Throughout Aida’s journey, she unearths personal family secrets, discovers a mystical machine and falls in love with a fellow revolutionary.
Based on a story by Castañeda, Dancing features choreography by company Artistic Director Rebecca French and costumes by dancer/filmmaker/designer Ashley Horn. Horn was asked to design wardrobes for “sketchy barmaids, dispossessed wanderers, rebel fighters [and] minions of the crooked government,” Castañeda explains. “The movement [in the show] reflects each character’s temperaments and inclinations.” In order to exhibit such personality in the dancing, French called upon her knowledge of modern and contemporary vocabulary while mixing in hip-hop, jazz, ballet and Broadway-musical dance.
8 p.m. March 27, 28, 29 and April 2, 3, 4; 2 p.m. March 29. Frenetic Theater, 5102 Navigation. For information, visit freneticore.net. $5 to $30.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., March 29, 2 p.m. Starts: March 27. Continues through April 4, 2015
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2015.