June 23-29, 2005

artpicks

High Flyer

dance

Hearing Travis Mesman say he's concerned that "no one will show up" to see his first self-produced show, you can't help wonder if the man is having an attack of false modesty. After all, Mesman has been a provocative presence on the dance scene who's performed with numerous local choreographers and troupes including Koresh Dance Company, Eric Schoefer, Brian Sanders/JUNK and Group Motion, as well as being a member of MOMIX. But because this is his maiden voyage as a program producer, Mesman is unsure about how things will go — hence the title: Cultivating Flight.

Mesman plans to use all the tools in his movement-based arsenal, which means an eclectic mix that jumbles together modern jazz, capoeira, break dancing, acrobatics and circus art. On top of that, Mesman will display his skills as a lighting designer, incorporating light beams, smoke machines, fans and a quadraphonic sound system into his performance. "I'm choreographing not dancers, but lights," he says. "I'm hoping to get away with four and half minutes of something that's very Disney."

This supersinewy guy is calling upon a bunch of pals to help with the dance parts, including Bethany Formica, Kate Carr, Michelle Tantoco, Raphael Xavier and Kate Watson-Wallace. He promises an evening of "fearless dance" that runs the gamut "from postmodern rolling around on the floor really slow, all the way up to super-high-tech crisp movement."

Cultivating Flight, Fri.-Sat., June 24-25, 8 p.m., Drake Theater, 8 p.m., $10-$15, 1512 Spruce St., 215-569-9700.

—Deni Kasrel