My favorite sequence involved all the dancers sprawling their arms and limbs into a body web as they rolled across the floor. The company’s animalistic movement at the end of the piece slid into exotic and daring territory.

“What is something you have lost?” Dani Kuepper, artistic director of Danceworks Performance Company, asked the audience before DPC’s latest show at Danceworks Studio Theatre this past weekend.

“Keys, a credit card, how about a child in a department store?” added Kuepper.

For DPC’s latest dance performance, company members went out into the community of Milwaukee and posed this question to people ages 5-100. After hearing various community responses, they created a storybook of these lost tales and assembled a performance of innovative contemporary dance entitled, “Tall Tales from the Wide Sky.”

One of the first pieces, “His True Identity,” featured the perky Melissa Anderson in search for her lost youth. Dressed in a petite pink tutu Anderson took the stage and danced a variety of ballet leaps and turns around the company.

She then sat in a chair and read aloud the story of how she felt she lost her innocence when she chose to fall in love with a man. This powerful piece placed Anderson’s stellar ballet movements against the company’s contemporary choreography.

At one point, Anderson executed 16 incredible entrechats and then finished the work with an impressive arabesque penchee. Throughout Anderson’s fireworks the company performed a modern choreographic phrase that featured them molding their bodies into a variety of lost items, from a tea kettle to a winter glove.

The light, breathy duet, titled “In the Dark,” between Liz Hildebrandt and Korey Oliver that followed was enchanting to view. Hildebrandt had such grace and poise as she draped off Oliver’s body effortlessly in a variety of lifts.

Midway through the show, the company performed my favorite work of the evening titled “Landfill.” The dancers pushed, pulled and dragged themselves across the stage at the beginning of the piece and used linear body shapes to accentuate the soundtrack by David Lange, which sounded like construction workers playing table tennis with their own tools. The dancers executed sharp stops and intricate body shaping opposite the percussive downbeat of the music. I was very impressed by the creative composition of this work.

My favorite sequence involved all the dancers sprawling their arms and limbs into a body web as they rolled across the floor. The company’s animalistic movement at the end of the piece slid into exotic and daring territory. I wanted to take snapshots from this piece and combine them into a killer screen saver for my computer.

A final tale during the show featured the sensational Kelly Anderson in a bright red dress dancing solo to a classy piano tune. Three other dancers on stage posed as commentators to Anderson’s dancing. As she performed, each dancer guessed who she was and what she was thinking.

They vocalized creative and witty remarks such as, “She looks like an angel, but angels don’t wear red!” Audience members chuckled from these responses.

I realized something after the show. I had forgotten how to lose myself during a dance performance. During “Tall Tales” I received goose bumps during Anderson’s stunning red dress solo, and a tear fell from my eye as the company took the stage for their joyous finale, “Happy Dance.” Dressed in beautiful light colors, the company danced wild and free to the harmonious music, “Dreamsong” by Scott Matthews.

A smile erupted on my face as the lights went down and the show came to a close. It felt like butterflies were moving around all inside my body. I thank DPC for helping me to remember that wonderful feeling.

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