A dance of dystopia

Like the bad kids in high school, D.A.M. lounges in the stairwell. Scott Park
Like the bad kids in high school, D.A.M. lounges in the stairwell.

Most of America saw a celebrity unhinged when Tom Cruise professed his love for Katie Holmes by jumping on a coach on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Scott Park, artistic director of the upstart Philly Dangerous and Movin’ Dance Company, saw inspiration for a new work.

“Most people talked about how he was crazy but he was just acting different, why do people all need to act the same?” Park says. “He came off as being a little overboard but I didn’t see it as crazy, or weird. He was somebody loving somebody else and he was showing it to the world.”

In Park’s new work, “Evol,” it’s a dark dystopian world where inhabitants, unlike Tom Cruise, do not have love or compassion for one another. Those with love in their heart are considered infected members of society and are to be executed.

The work will be performed tonight and tomorrow at the Performance Garage on Brandywine Street.

“These characters are torn and they do different things to escape from the reality of living in this world,” says Park, who founded Dangerous and Movin’, or dAm, in 2009. “Some drink their sorrows, some cope with violent sex, and some take drugs to help them live with these [hurtful] ideals.”

The movements of the troupe’s seven dancers are accompanied by the recorded hard rock of groups like Marilyn Manson and Rammstein. There’s a video component, too.

“We have our dancers in white face with black lines — it’s very menacing,” Park says. “The idea is to make them alien figures.”

Equal rights
The loveless concept of “Evol” is very much rooted in our world, Park says.

“The piece is a bit of a critique on society today,” he says. “Gay marriage is one issue. People don’t have the same rights, it was definitely an undertone. It’s one example of a class of people not being able to pursue their happiness.”

If you go:

“Evol” by the Dangerous And Movin’ Dance Company
8 p.m. Friday, March 29, Saturday, March 30
The Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine St., Philadelphia
$15 in advance, $20 at the door
610-659-0459 or www.dAmDance.com
This show is not suitable for children due to content.