Like most people, Psophonia Dance Company co-founder and choreographer Sophia Torres sometimes dreams of flying through the air (à la Superman). Unlike most people, Torres used those dreams as inspiration for a set of new works. ”love that dream,” she tells us. ”I feel empowered when I’m soaring. Anything is possible in that moment if I just trust myself, if I just take that step.” For Torres, taking that step artistically became Taking Flight, an evening-length program that explores flight, abandonment and the ability to change.
”I’ve been playing with the idea ‘Throw, fall, catch,”’ Torres says. ”What happens if you just throw yourself in the air? What if you don’t know how you’ll land? What if you give yourself over to imbalance and don’t plan the result?”
Last fall was time for change for Torres in both her personal and professional lives. ”I just needed to take a beat, and in the process of doing that, I started to put together what became Taking Flight, threading together the ideas of flight, falling and being held back.”
Watch for the segment where the dancers wear giant paper skirts. Torres constructed them herself. She found the skirts to be much more than just origami-like costumes. ”You can hear the paper rustle when the dancers move; it magnifies every small movement, making everything much more intimate and quiet.”
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. City Dance Studio, 1307 West Clay. For information, call 713-802-1181 or visit psophonia.com. $12 to $15.
May 24-25, 8 p.m., 2013
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2012.