Get Out This Weekend: "Geography" at OtB

We're not yet convinced that the current War on Plastic Shopping Bags/Global Warming will stand the test of time, but we sure are intrigued that everyone everywhere seems to be trying to make the eco-friendly message stick (do you really think NBC's "Green Week" is destined for the history books? Neither do we.).

We're feeling equally ambivalent about "Geography," the latest piece from local choreographer/composer duo Scott/Powell Production, premiering this weekend at On the Boards. In a recent interview with OtB's Artistic Director Lane Czaplinski, choreographer Molly Scott described the production as an expression of her concern with man's alteration of nature, which she believes is negatively affecting our spiritual and physical space: "I'm very, very, very disturbed by how crowded everything is. The way in which the body has less and less space in which to maneuver."

If we weren't immediately won over by "Geography," it was certainly not the fault of the seven incredible dancers who punched, kicked and twitched their way through a sea of invisible forces, only to collapse into and fall over each other in a sweaty, exhausting pattern of overexertion and submission. One female soloist's struggle to dance through the constraints of a satin evening gown and its heavy train was incredibly powerful.

Nor was it Jarrad Powell's electro-acoustic compositions that turned us off; his foreboding industrial howls mimic the kinds of sounds we hear in our heads as we walk down the Pike/Pine corridor, condo-fication looming above.

We understand the inspiration behind Scott's vision; more and more are we wrestling with the consequences of our actions against the natural world. In the sea of eco-friendly messages that makes up our everyday consumer lives, we can't help but think Scott's take is a too little generic to make waves, especially in room full of zealously green Seattleites. As a production, "Geography" is stunning; as a message, well, it's not timeless.

8pm Fri/Sat // On the Boards // Tickets $18