Diavolo

A frenzy of flips and flight makes up the acrobatic artistry of Diavolo presented by Titas March 30th and 31st in Dallas, TX.

Show times are at 8 p.m. at Southern Methodist University's McFarlin Auditorium and ticket start at $14.00.

Revolutionizing dance performance under the direction of artistic director Jacques Heim, the Los Angeles-based troupe presents frenetic and acrobatic movements among gigantic symbolic structures, elevating their dance from "gee-whizzery" to thought-provoking theater, according to Titas.

In one harrowing scene, a giant bed is the platform for slides and rolls by the performers.

The company, founded in 1992 to examine the ways people react to the environment in funny and scary ways, is made up of gymnasts and actors who create performances collaboratively under the guidance of Heim. The ten-member troupe currently has over a dozen works in repertoire most of which travel easily and can be adapted to large and small scale venues.

According to their website, Diavolo has attracted critics' attention from the very beginning. Diavalo means loosely "day fly" in Spanish.

"Through the company I try to convey an appreciation for movement by breaking down barriers to dance via a vocabulary based on everyday activities," said Heim.

Dancers include Ken Arata, Briana Bowie, Philip Flickinger, Becca Greenbaum, Renee Larsen, Melinda Ritchie, Jones Welsh, and Crystal Zibalese.

The group's repertoire is widely varied as evidence by "Trajectoire" which is set on an abstract 21st Century Galleon when the group is set adrift upon the ever-shifting landscape of human relations in modern society. In "Man Made" a ten-foot long tunnel that sits four feet above the floor is the landscape. With a cast of two "Bonjour" is a complete relationship from beginning to end in six minutes.