Now that On the Boards is taking its summer snooze, some of you (you, with the clunky black plastic frames--we're talking to you) need to know where to go for your hipster movement-, music-, and video-based performance needs. That would be into the heart of Belltown for Tres Tristes Tigres at Freehold Theatre (8 p.m., Friday & Saturday through July 18; tickets: $15; 2222 Second Avenue, Ste 200).

Trinidad Martínez is co-founder of the Magpai Production Group--straight outta Hamburg--and is in the U.S. on a Fullbright. She collaborated with each of the solo performers of Tres Tristes Tigres: Emma Klein, Dayton Allemann, and Jonas Radvik. She's also likely to be the one taking your tickets and offering you a glass of water. But the fringe-theater, many-hats staffing aside, the work you see rivals OtB in its commitment--and shows off Dani Prados' lighting and technical design chops.

"Emma," by movement artist/dancer Emma Klein uses the found inspiration of an unpacked box to unpack memories of a grandmother. We hear Sylvia Rothchild in voiceover, giving a talk at what sounds like an awards banquet, and Emma does a floor exercise, first in street clothes, then changing into a full-length dress and heels. At its best, there's a haunting, triple-person presence that's summoned (daughter, mother, grandmother) in echoes of voice and movement.

"Shoulder," by ballet accompanist (among other things) Dayton Allemann shifts gears on you. You're herded into another space, one with a movie screen next to a keyboard. You don't realize until Allemann comes in and sits down that the box he's sitting on is a homemade electronic drum, capable of a variety of percussive textures. You also don't realize until he starts smacking the box around that the beats also drive the video footage of his bicycle ride from Seattle to the Eastside. Same thing with the keyboard--music's rhythm (there are a few songs) determines the passage of time.

"Tears," by Jonas Radvik, is one of those pieces that gets into your viscera and feels around for a bit. Does it tickle or are make you want to run from the room? Music by New Order, David Bowie, and the Bronski Beat accompanies Radvik's dances and video. In counterpoint to a therapy session and a dancebreak in a far-too-small Superman costume, there's a close-up of Radvik bawling his eyes out under the covers. It's never explained why--he plaintively wails "What's the fucking problem?" and you remember that time you couldn't stop crying and you didn't really know why.

Filed in Arts & Events and tagged art, belltown, dance, freehold theatre, magpai production group, movement, music, tres tristes tigres, trinidad martinez, video

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