E-Mail This Article to a Friend Gild that bat! Snappy Dance does Edward Gorey BY IRIS FANGER

Edward Gorey lived in a world of dream scenes where things and people went bump in the night, never to be heard from again except in the series of marvelously macabre books that he published in his lifetime. He was also a constant presence at New York City Ballet in the years before he moved to a derelict old house on Cape Cod. I remember standing next to this large bear of a man, who’d be dressed in an ankle-length raccoon coat and sneakers, at the back of the first ring at the New York State Theatre on more than one occasion. Given his fondness for ballet (it turns up in several of his sinister tales) and Snappy Dance Theater’s offbeat choreography, which includes evocative images and movement drawn from the circus, athletics, and gymnastics as well as studio technique, it seems fitting that the two would combine in a dance piece. And indeed, The Temperamental Wobble, a piece inspired by Gorey, will have its world premiere next weekend when Snappy performs at the Cutler Majestic Theatre under the auspices of the FleetBoston Celebrity Series, which commissioned the work.

Snappy director Martha Mason traces her fascination with Gorey back to a birthday gift two years ago. "One of my dancers, Sean Kilbridge, gave me a book by Gorey. Sean is a long-time fan. There was an immediate connection for me. I’m always interested in building audiences. I’m hoping that Gorey fans who do not attend dance concerts will come and that dance fans who don’t know Gorey will find out about his rich imagination, dry wit, and absurdly dark sense of humor."

Mason did not ask the Gorey estate for rights, since Snappy is not actually setting his stories to dance, except for The Gashlycrumb Tinies, his alphabet of dead children who meet their ends in various ways ("Fanny, smothered under a rug"; "Hector done in by a thug"), which will be narrated along with the choreography. "Although I didn’t need permission, it was important to me to have their blessings. It’s important to the co-executors of the Gorey estate that anything pertaining to him be done with integrity." Snappy commissioned an original score for the piece by German composer Michael Rodach.

Snappy is a company of seven dancers including Mason that creates new work by the collaborative method. "Everybody submits movement and conceptual ideas in rehearsal. People shout ideas; we brainstorm together. The overall concept is mine; I share it with them and they help me to realize it. I always work this way." Mason, who has been in Boston since 1993, studied at Mount Holyoke College, danced in New York, and then attended three week-long choreography workshops given by members of Pilobolus. "They introduced me to the collaborative method of choreography and my attraction for finding non-traditional dance movement."

Mason adds that she wants Snappy’s audiences "to be emotionally moved. I start with the visual. Something has to be visually stunning. Halfway through the creation of the dance, we understand what’s happening, but rarely is there a linear plot." The Gorey piece will be part of the repertory performed in Japan in August when the company sets out on its first international tour. "We’ll perform the part of the Gorey piece there that’s based on his story ‘The Lavender Leotard.’ "

The FleetBoston Celebrity Series presents Snappy Dance Theater at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street in the Theater District, June 4 at 7:30 p.m. and June 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $35; call (800) 233-3123 or visit www.celebrityseries.org