Into the Fold - Pinnacle Pavilion

From The Oregonian:

"We wouldn't be interested in working on proscenium stages right now," Rachel Tess says. "The way we're interested in communicating as choreographers is predicated on intimacy."

It's not as if Tess and her partner, Stephan Laks, can't command the larger spaces of a proscenium presentation -- as anyone knows who caught their riveting guest performance in Josie Moseley's White Bird/PSU Dance Series show in January. But with Rumpus Room Dance, the young company they formed in Gothenburg, Sweden, they've chosen to focus instead on "site-specific work in urban spaces.

Last year's "Details of a Couple" (pictured) was a brilliant showcase of their polished technique and expressive on stage chemistry, and of their acumen in turning the raw, concrete-and-glass space of the Pinnacle Pavilion, on the ground floor of a Pearl District high-rise, into a performance setting. For their upcoming show, "Into the Fold," the site transformation will be aided by painter/sculptor Karen Madsen and Oregon Ballet Theatre lighting designer Michael Mazzola. Tess, a Portland native who's been working in European ballet companies for several years, and Laks will be joined as performers by fellow Juilliard graduate Banning Roberts.

Opens 8:30 p.m. Thursday, continues 8:30 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays through June 29, Pinnacle Pavilion, Northwest 10th Avenue and Northrup Street; $25, two for $40; www.rumpusroomdance.com, 503-922-2157