“Eros once again limbloosener whirls me sweetbitter, impossible to fight off, creature stealing up…” – Sappho

Christopher House’s Pteros Tactics is a vibrant, playful work that examines “the instant of desire” as described by Anne Carson in Eros the Bittersweet. According to Carson: “Eros is a verb.”

Pteros Tactics was inspired by, and created in collaboration with, TDT’s ten extraordinary dancers– dancers who move with supple, risky grace. Christopher House draws the arcs and triangulations of desire in inventive strokes and richly physical tones. The image of Eros Ballplayer, with his golden sphere, provides the central metaphor in the choreography: the eros sphaira (lover’s ball) repeatedly flies above the stage in trajectories of invitation.

Christopher House explores the space between the lover and beloved with intelligence and wit, the audience participating in the triangle as active witness. The performers often address the audience directly, sometimes spilling off the stage with dynamic, loose-limbed energy or singing passionately to the beloved. The world of Pteros Tactics is unpredictable– sometimes disturbing, sometimes delightful, and always engaging.

House’s collaborators include Flemish dramaturge Guy Cools, Dora Award winning composer Phil Strong, designer Cheryl Lalonde, and veteran lighting designer Roelof Peter Snippe.

Read the full Globe and Mail review