Portland Phoenix | Next Wave Experience: The sensual curiosity of Bare Portland's dance-theater hybrid 'MIRA'

Young college student Mira (Kerry Anderson) is lately restless, neurotic, prone to weeping. She feels as if she’s forgotten something crucial. But poetry changes everything — it raises Mira from her anomie and offers her communion and transcendence. The innovative theater company Bare Portland presents Mira’s story, inspired by the text and lyricism of Tennessee Williams, in a movement performance accompanied by an individualized digital experience of sound and words. Directed by Tarra Bouchard and choreographed by Liz Pettengill, Mira runs this weekend only at SPACE.   

The dancers portraying Mira and her peers — Kerry Anderson, Emily Dunuwila, and Allie Freed — perform her tale wordlessly. The verbal story, pre-recorded and voiced by Bridgette Loraine and James Patefield, comes in three variations, from the perspectives of Him, Her, and Them, and is conveyed via digital app over headphones (theater goers should plan to bring to the show a wifi-capable device and headphones). Audience members can opt to follow any one of the three audio tracks, or can switch between them throughout the performance of Mira’s transformation.