I’ve been associating shiny colored swishy pants with choreographer Hope Goldman for a really long time.

Her first ever evening length concert, Birds in Paradise, has gone through many iterations, but a few things have remained constant: the cast, the concept, and those fabulous swishy pants.

Goldman’s cast of four women (Jessica Cornish, Alana Parekh, Cheryl Cornacchione Nowlin, and Megan Klein) have been so ingrained in the process of Birds in Paradise that much of the creative credit is given to them. Goldman labels herself as the director and brainchild of the piece (rather than the choreographer), so while the work is sewn together by her, the pieces of fabric come from the dancers.  “This women’s quartet is distinctly female and many times creature-like as the performers tap into a cardinal physicality. The movement is rich and thick with a strong connection to the earth, performed from the inside out, and released in waves through the dancers’ spines,” says Goldman.

I viewed Birds in progress last spring at Outerspace‘s Research Project #4, and was instantly drawn to the insatiable weirdness that slowly unfolds. Nonchalant “I love you, I hate you” relationships slowly emerge between the dancers. Undulating torsos, finger twiddling, chin pecking, modern dancey pops and locks… the gestures allude to the feathered fowl of the title, but the weird and fantastical world Goldman creates seems much much more than an avian manifest.

—

Birds in Paradise takes place Sept. 11 – 14, 7:30pm  at Collaboraction’s Pentagon Theater in the Flat Iron Arts Building (1579 N Milwaukee #336, Chicago, 60622). Tickets are $12, available online or cash at the door.