Fringe 2015: Megan Flynn Dance Company, 'Dances with Socks'

From the postmodern aesthetic of “What Fits in a Fishbowl” to the more contemporary appeal of “When I Was Five,” Flynn demonstrated her versatility in composition and vocabulary while offering the audience a change from experiencing dance on film.

Meredith Stapleton was beautifully quirky in “What Fits in a Fishbowl.” Playful and spirited, she sauntered through space performing quick, jerky movements that casually mimicked the antique scratchy sound of the recording. These twitches were sometimes followed by frames of stillness that made you appreciate Stapleton’s presence and Flynn’s nuanced choreography.

In “When I Was Five,” Katrina Muffley was captivating and intentional. She had a shy demeanor, but her dancing was anything but shy. She was poetic in each step, and her poetry came alive when she moved. The floor was her friend, and she embodied Flynn’s choreography with a familiar ease that left me satisfied.

Clear and exact, Sarah Braviak drew lines on the floor with her extended leg after removing layers of clothing in “She Is Standing.” Braviak played with the emotional undertones of the musical composition by Portland Cello Project while successfully interpreting Flynn’s sweeping choreography with specificity.

In “Piecework,” Randall Anthony Smith was the perfect pairing for Flynn. Dancing amidst a terrain of socks, both had an eloquence that spoke the same classical language. Lithe, liquid, and always in control, their limbs were like fishing poles — always reaching into the space, willing the audience to be hooked.

Socks or no socks, Flynn flexed her choreographic muscle as she introduced her company to the Philadelphia dance scene and added her name to the long list of art makers who continue to make Philadelphia a habitat for new creative voices.