Darvin Dances' “The [fill in the blank] Between Us,” a Mad Libs Experiment

The audience does not simply watch Darvin Dances’ “The [fill in the blank] Between Us,” they actively shape it. Presented on May 8 at The Edge Theater, the evening thrived on audience participation and creativity. Through voting, Mad Libs prompts, and reactive improvisation, choreographer Mariah Eastman invites dancers and audience members alike to be active collaborators, resulting in a playful program that blurs the line between spectator and creator.

“Take a Chance,” with dancers Blake Campbell, Ashton Craven, Mandy Milligan, and Sidney Valdez, begins not with movement, but with a vote. Eastman asks the audience to decide between two costumes and music options. Inspired by modern dance pioneer Merce Cunningham, who used chance to determine elements such as costumes, lighting, and music, the interactive setup pulls the audience into the creative process, forming an emotional tether to what unfolds onstage.

Once the vote has been cast — in this case, flowing black dresses paired with mournful violin music — the performance begins. The audience’s choice feels immediately evident, as the dresses transform the visual texture of the slow, contracting choreography. With every falling turn, unfolding développé, and sweeping kick, the skirts bloom like clouds of black ink dispersing through water, leaving soft arches and rippling trails across the stage. The dark costume, slow score, and elongated movement establish a gloomy tone shaped by both the choreographer and the audience.

This melancholy tone begins to shift with a solo by Valdez. She teeters between sad, militaristic rigidity and childlike exaggeration. Her head, arm, and torso articulate in sequence like a wind-up toy soldier, with moments of playful absurdity—oversized starfish stretches, rolling body waves, and exaggerated balances—defiantly disrupting the mechanical precision.

As the group unites, they experience a collective awakening. Like spring breaking through winter’s hold, the group sheds their earlier inflexibility in favor of large, expansive arms stretching to the sky. They move into sweeping circular patterns and interconnected floor work, staying connected and supporting one another. By the final note, the dancers lie sleepily on the floor, no longer confined by structure, finally at peace.

While the choreography itself is strong, the most exciting aspect of “Take a Chance” is the promise of randomness. The voting is fun, but the options are similar enough that the overall tone isn’t truly affected. Still, this framework holds exciting potential and gives the company plenty of room to expand and push these concepts in future performances.

The premiere of “comply(DEFY),” choreographed by Eastman and performed by Gabby Estes, Campbell, Milligan, and Valdez, explores themes of hopelessness, perseverance, and resistance, questioning what it means to resist when resistance itself begins to feel futile.

A memorable inclusion is when the full ensemble settles into a monotonous side-to-side shuffle, evoking obedience and conformity. Even when dancers, whether alone or in pairs, break away into expansive reaches, they are consistently pulled back into formation. Yet these repeated returns never feel like a full surrender. Each time the dancers rejoin the shuffle, their stomps grow louder, their swinging torso faster, and their expressions more determined.

In “comply(DEFY),” Estes delivers a standout solo. After being limply dragged and abandoned by the ensemble, she repeatedly attempts an arabesque only to collapse heavily to the floor. She transforms this failure into defiance. With each new attempt, her leg reaches higher, stronger, and faster. Once standing, she traverses the stage through explosive lunges and traveling kicks that seem beyond her own center of gravity.

“comply (DEFY)” succeeds through its clear emotional pacing and strong movement structure, seamlessly threading repetition with explosive releases. The work’s well-defined sections make its themes of suppression and resistance easy to connect with, and its emphasis on community strength leaves one feeling inspired and hopeful.

The final piece, “The Choreographic Mad Lib,” collaboratively created by Campbell, Craven, Eastman, Estes, Milligan, and Valdez, becomes the evening’s most inventive and delightfully chaotic work. Structured as a five-part improvisational Mad-Lib game, the piece uses audience-submitted prompts gathered before the show to determine movement themes, sounds, and staging directions.

After each dance section, the audience hears the completed Mad Lib read aloud, retroactively revealing how words like “slimy,” “ominous,” “jumping,” “fight,” “sphere,” and even “farts” shaped the choreography. This unpredictability keeps the performance fresh and playful.

One prompt in particular delivers the evening’s biggest comedic success. What begins as energetic jumping quickly devolves into chaos as the dancers, instructed to “cackle like chickens,” break into nonsensical gobbling. Arms fold into makeshift wings. Bent knees create hilariously birdlike struts across the stage. Fully committed to the absurdity, the work escalates from scattered clucking into a rippling wave of loud “BA-GAWKS” as the dancers drop into dramatic back bends, their chicken-like screeches echoing throughout the space. The moment captures the playful spirit of Mad Libs, embracing the silliness of the game that inspires it.

Darvin Dances presents “The [fill in the blank] Between Us” at The Edge Theater, 5451 N Broadway, on May 8.

Additional performances of “Take a Chance” and “The Choreographic Mad Lib” at “Night Out in the Park” at Shedd Park on July 9, Owens Park on July 23, and Horner Park on July 30 at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, check out the event page by clicking HERE.