Do a different ‘Time Warp’

They probably won’t be throwing toilet paper around the room or shouting lewd comments at the screen. But in the spirit of the cult classic TheRocky Horror Picture Show, AREA-51 Dance Theatre has reinvented their annual production of SpaceCracker into an “interactive audience adventure” complete with video and props.

The result is SpaceCracker: The Movie, which will show Jan. 25-27 at the Masonic Theater.

SpaceCracker was adapted from The Nutcracker and follows that general storyline, but as the name suggests, all the action happens in space. The heroine is Kalea, who travels through space and time battling the forces of chaos. She meets up with seven intergalactic characters along the way, who help Kalea along on her quest for personal growth.

In the new version, AREA-51 will show video footage taped from past SpaceCracker productions, and maybe some live footage as well. Artistic/Executive Director Elizabeth Weigel says 24 dancers—professionals from as far as Finland, Croatia and Japan—will dance both onstage and among the audience, and some audience members will be invited onstage to join the action.

“Those who come dressed in futuristic attire will be rewarded at the door with items they can use during the show,” Weigel says. You can also buy packets at the door that have all the props you’ll need and instructions on what to do and when; in the first scene, for example, you’ll be battling with laser guns and flashlights.

If this sounds like just the kind of thing your kids would love, you’re probably right.

“Kids can get involved … jump out of their seats and make noise,” Weigel says. But adults looking for a deeper artistic appreciation won’t be disappointed either, she says, calling the production “a breath of cutting edge.”

“I just got back from New York and I’m very inspired,” Weigel says. “I really want to bring dance theater to Reno in a new form … to really surprise people with this production.”

You might say that SpaceCracker: The Movie was fated to be—or that Weigel simply has a way of turning lemons into lemonade. She originally planned to stage SpaceCracker in a casino showroom, just as she’s done for the last two years.

But AREA-51 was denied space in three different casinos to make way for more profit-centric shows, Weigel says, despite the fact that SpaceCracker nearly sold out last year when it was staged at the Flamingo. She eventually decided to revamp the production, making it “scaled down and purified” for the smaller space of the Masonic Theater. (The original cast had 75 dancers.)

“The idea to reinvent SpaceCracker sort of came from necessity,” she says. “It’s sort of serendipitous that it all came together.”

Still, Weigel says, her recent troubles reflect a constant problem for dance companies in Reno: a lack of suitable performance venues. She also feels that Reno should have at least one company with full-time dancers but says that right now the support just isn’t there. She hopes that AREA-51’s cutting-edge modern dance, in addition to the more traditional ballet companies around town, can spark a greater interest in dance for local audiences.

“We’re hoping that it catches on."