In 1937 Walt Disney made history with the feature-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In 2014, Benedict Cumberbatch played Alan Turing, a gay man who broke the Enigma code during World War II, but was later castrated by the British government because he was gay. So imagine combining these two stories and you have a sense of what’s on the mind of Invertigo Dance Theatre. Their show Formulae & Fairy Tales has its world premiere at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica on Friday and Saturday.
To be fair, there is a logic here. Snow White was apparently Turing’s favorite film. So the pairing here, while provocative, has a basis in reality. What’s exciting about this piece is to see how this LA-based dance company, lead by Founding Artistic Director Laura Karlin, plans to combine these two stories.
As this teaser for Formulae & Fairy Tales indicates, sometimes an apple isn’t just an apple. Or is it?
In a press release for these performances, Karlin says, ““This show is many things. It is a whimsical leap into a vivid imagination. It is a love letter to a great mind. It is a playground and a memory and a machine. It is a rejection of tragedy in favor of hope, redemption, and an implacable desire that our world be better for the people living in it.”
Invertigo Dance Theatre was created in 2007. They will be touring Formulae & Fairy Tales during the 2020-2021 season. This weekend we get to be the first to see it!
For tickets on Friday night go here.
For tickets on Saturday night go here.
Photo by George Simian/Courtesy of The Broad Stage