DanceBOOM!

May 31, June 1 and 2, Chosen Dance Co., danceTactics, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Lionel Popkin, 8 p.m.; June 6, 8, and 9, Bridgman/Packer Dance, Group Motion Dance Co./Akito Kitamura and Silvana Cardell, 8 p.m.; June 13, 15 and 16 BalletX, 8 p.m., June 17, 2 p.m.; Motion Picture Series runs June 7-15, Wil

by Deni Kasrel

dance

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

The Wilma Theater's DanceBOOM! festival, now in its sixth year, has a history of rounding up the usual suspects — familiar staples of our local dance scene. And while there's a pinch of this in the current roster, the 2007 fest mainly offers a refreshing lineup that's likely new to many Philly dance fans. Spanning three weeks, it opens with Men Dancing, spotlighting several acts choreographed by and featuring men, to include Chosen Dance Company, led by hip-hop extraordinaire Clyde Evans; and Tommie-Waheed Evans, who takes a break from his gig with Philadanco to offer an excerpt from Meetings Along the Edge, an abstract ballet-in-progress. The following week's slate features Group Motion (a "usual suspect"), plus Bridgman/Packer Dance, an imaginative New York-based duo that creates dance-scapes bearing a deep psychological bent. Then comes BalletX, led by longtime Pennsylvania Ballet dancers Matt Neenan and Christine Cox, who are doing a bang-up job of adding newfangled twists to the contemporary ballet genre. On top of that, there's a dance film series (hot pick: From Mambo to Hip Hop: A Bronx Tale, which traces the roots of the hip-hop dance craze). Catch what you can, then take a break once the boom goes bust.

May 31, June 1 and 2, Chosen Dance Co., danceTactics, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Lionel Popkin, 8 p.m.; June 6, 8, and 9, Bridgman/Packer Dance, Group Motion Dance Co./Akito Kitamura and Silvana Cardell, 8 p.m.; June 13, 15 and 16 BalletX, 8 p.m., June 17, 2 p.m.; Motion Picture Series runs June 7-15, $20-$25, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, www.wilmatheater.org.