Thursday, May 15-Saturday, May 17

Wonderland

Buffalo native Leanne Scmidt returns home next weekend with her Brooklyn-based contemporary dance company for a series of performances at Buffalo’s newest theater. Leanne Schmidt and Company was founded by its namesake in 2006, and Wonderland is the third work Schmidt has presented there. In keeping with her mission statement to “create work that is human, vulnerable, and accessible,” Wonderland draws on the choreographer’s intimate experiences—with a loved one’s mental illness, family, and personal growth—through the depiction of dreams, fantasies, and exploration of the psyche. While the material may be somewhat sad, the program remains accessible to the audience through its humor and athletic, energetic choreography. Leanne is a graduate of the Buffalo Academy for Visual & Performing Arts who holds a BFA in Dance from SUNY Brockport and an MFA in Dance from Arizona State. The other performers and Company members include Kimberly Goss, Beth Maderal, and Josselyn Levinson.

—k. o’day

8pm, May 15-17. ALT Theatre, 255 Great Arrow Avenue, third floor (868-6847). $15