When Keith Lee started choreographing one of his newest pieces, “Partita de Paradise,” he could already envision the costumes his dancers would wear.
“I was seeing these people in these outfits,” says Lee, artistic director and founder of Dance Theatre of Lynchburg. “I could feel (the) crazy.”
Lee’s Repertory Ensemble premiered the dance at its 10th anniversary gala last month. Now it’s a part of their December Dances program, scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in Randolph College’s Thoresen Theatre.
Lee says it was inspired by his love of surreal art, particularly the work of artist/filmmaker Jean Cocteau. The costumes evoke his work, and the entire thing is meant to be a comedy.
One of his costume ideas was to have a dancer wear a giant eyeball on each knee; other ensembles employ lots of feathers, velvet and even pom poms.
“It’s sort of Cocteau meets Andy Warhol,” says costume designer Barbara Webb. “It was one of the more challenging things I’ve done as a costumer.”
But, she adds, it fits perfectly with the choreography.
“It starts out with some very classical moves. Then it starts going off and the further they get, the weirder they get.”
In addition to doing all the show’s costumes, Webb, a mezzo-soprano, is also joining them on stage for the first time. She’ll sing Mahler’s “Ruckert Lieder 1, 2 and 3” while dancers perform more original Lee choreography.
“Each one of the dancers is so very, very different. I came up with a specific movement vocabulary (for each one),” Lee says. “The movement is a narrative to the music. It matches very, very well.”
The program also includes “Us,” which Lee choreographed for American Ballet Theatre in 1970, and “Fanfare, Freedom and Fireworks,” which is set to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7.50 for students and seniors. For more information, call (434) 846-6272 or visit www.dancelynchburg.org.
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