Explorations of human states

Unusual partnerships united the two halves of “Can You Move Me?,” an exploratory evening of contemporary dance shared by locally based artists Stefan Fabry and Arianne MacBean at Highways Performance Space on Friday.

Using an array of recorded music, MacBean’s artful seven-part suite “Ways of Moving” initially cast Elizabeth Hoefner, Eliza Pfister and Ken Datugan as droll triplets -- clothed identically in tuxedos over bare feet and moving identically in sequences based on very simple actions (hops in place, for example, or pantomimed swimming strokes) varied through formal sequencing ploys.

Between the four trios in the piece, solos defined distinct personalities for each participant. In “I Dance Who I Am,” Hoefner’s intense torso-coiling launched sweeping, slashing thrusts of legs and arms. Pfister’s “I Dance What I Cannot Say” found her tentative in both speech and motion, increasingly intent on declaring herself and always failing. “I Dance What I Dream Is True” sent Datugan ambling through loose, happy-go-lucky gambits before the cast reunited for an ironic mambo finale.

If MacBean’s dancers found a focus and a sense of identity in their quirky togetherness, Fabry’s 30-minute solo, “Gonna Stay,” expressed all the burdens that we can’t escape -- and that, indeed, make us who we are -- through his relationship with a large, heavy black-paper sack.

Reportedly full of barbecue charcoal (though we never saw its contents), the sack conditioned all of Fabry’s actions except for brief, illusory moments of freedom. Lifting it, dragging it, circling it like a planet revolving around the sun, he nearly became crushed by it both physically and emotionally.

Double bass soloist Tom Peters provided throbbing accompaniment to the solo, highlighting the remarkable physical and emotional power of Fabry’s performance. Ricocheting from one state of feeling to another while always sustaining a defensively pumped-up muscular tension, Fabry made his essay in dance-metaphor into a deeply involving kinetic experience.