Review: Dark Circles Contemporary Dance - LES FAIRIES AND BIG BAD WOLF at The Wyly Theatre

Fairies and wolves leap and shout in Dark Circles' refreshing performances of Les Fairies and Big Bad Wolf. Choreographer Joshua L. Peugh reimagines Les Sylphides and takes a dark look at fairy tales in the night's two pieces. Despite limitations of space, Dark Circles manages to bring their sensibility and style in a way that is always surprisingly joyous.

The evening begins with Les Fairies, a minimalistic variation on the romantic ballet Les Sylphides, with Chopin's original score provided by SMU Meadows School of the Arts musician Richard Abrahamson. This premier work juxtaposes balletic traditions with Peugh's increasingly iconic movement style: pas de deux, duets, and trios pass the stage with flexed feet, loose arms, and expressive outbursts. Though Les Fairies is definitely less comical than the Dark Circles pieces I'm familiar with, it still finds places to subvert romantic ballet expectations. Peugh does away with conventional partner gender roles and instead allows dancers like standouts Lena Oren and Nick Heffelfinger to take on sections of movement that they might not otherwise dance.

Coming back from a run in South Korea just last week (I do not envy the jet lag), Big Bad Wolf finishes the evening with a folksy, Wes-Anderson-esque, fairy tale romp. Eastern European-style strings and drums play nonstop as we follow Hansel and Gretel figures through a frantic journey. With almost Georgian combinations, the now-classic Peugh series of lunging box steps, and an unmistakably dark sense of humor - this is more the Dark Circles I am familiar with. Though the through-line was a bit muddled, as I think was the intention, the piece follows Peugh himself as "the Wolf" who seeks out children, and drags them off in a bag - simple enough. But as the piece goes on, more characters are introduced, and you're never quite sure who is who, and what is what. The piece is a humorous, confusing, and completely entertaining flurry of reds and browns.

Though the studio space at the Wyly is a small one, and possibly not as conducive to dance as plays in the round, Dark Circles takes full advantage of the resource made available through the Elevator Project. Simple yet clean lighting design by Roma Flowers bounces off the white floor to fill the space with a glow, and the equally simple yet effective costumes of Susan Austin play with the lights and compliment the movement. Dark Circles' newest pieces might not be their most humorous, and the space might be a bit too small, but this show is still one to see.

Dark Circles' Les Fairies and Big Bad Wolf run through October 22nd at the Wyly Theatre. For more information go to darkcirclescontemporarydance.com

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