March 10-16, 2005

artpicks

Homing Devices

by Deni Kasrel

dance

Putting the personal front and center is a popular device in the dance-theater world. Perhaps it's all that movement: It stirs things up inside so much that the performer just has to spill her guts for all to see. Whatever the reason, it's a recurring theme and one that Everett Dance Theatre expands upon in Home Movies, a full-length multimedia work where five dancers get into an autobiographical frame of mind. One comes from a family that escaped the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, two others share a grandmother who fled an abusive husband, and so on. Each has a tale to tell and the entire cast alternates playing family members of the different performers.

Combining storytelling, film and dance, the program strives to offer multiple views of the individual lives. According to Dorothy Jungels, Everett's artistic director, "The use of all three elements allows the audience to go between worlds, verbal and nonverbal, real and not real, human scale and bigger than life, present and past." Each story ends with a dance so that movement acts as a connecting force for the cast. Meanwhile, Jungels has observed that Home Movies builds bonds with its viewers: "People have told us that they see a part of themselves in every performer's story, as different as the cultures may be. The performers' human stories ranging from tragic to hilarious seem to open people up emotionally. That makes people ready to think about their own situations."

Home Movies, Thu., March 10, 7 p.m., $7.50-$15, Fri–Sat., March 11-12, 8 p.m., $10-$20, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914.