Also this issue: Material Girls The Female Funny Fest might make you think, but it wants to make you laugh. -Debra Auspitz Brittle Women -Susan Hagen The Real Thing -David Warner Pal Around -Steve Cohen Human, Nature -Janet Anderson War on War -Sam Adams Sons Also Rises -David Anthony Fox Due Cause -Frank Lewis

October 31-November 6, 2002

artpicks

Highflying Adventure

At the 2002 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Trapezius Aerial Dance sold out all of its shows, and Louise Gillette, company director/choreographer, scooped up the first Rocky Award for Lifetime Achievement. Now the troupe aims to fly even higher, at Conwell Dance Theater, where ample ceiling height, balconies and a spacious stage enable the cast to zip, zoom and soar with unbridled abandon.

Gillette intends to take full advantage of the space, presenting works using her familiar trapeze, bungee cord, harness, hoop and ladder. If you're thinking circus show, think again. Gillette says she's "not interested in ta-da! Here's a pose" antics. For her the attraction is about seeing "human characters doing completely non-human positions, and yet these characters [have] all kinds of human emotions and feelings and attachments." Take, for instance, "Support," performed on a 16-foot rope ladder, where two dancers climb and balance upon each other in a duet offering both aggressive and tender moments. The piece may be enjoyed purely as fetching entertainment, or you can appreciate the deeper context, which, as Gillette explains, concerns "the struggle between wanting to help someone and wanting them to help you." As usual with Trapezius, there's more than meets the eye.

Trapezius Aerial Dance, Nov. 1-2, 8 p.m., $10, Conwell Dance Theater, Broad St. and Montgomery Ave., 215-204-1122.

—Deni Kasrel