A vending machine/jukebox from another planet dominates Walk-In, Fernando Melo’s new ensemble work for Luna Negra Dance Theater. It looks and sounds surreal. But then everything in the piece, including the set’s floor-to-ceiling psychedelic wallpaper, is a bit off. Aiming to explore the mental states behind daily routines, Melo says he started with the simple, mundane movements of everyday life, but made them different—very different in some cases. Among the many creepy overlaps between the human and the mechanical in Walk-In: soda cans rolling across the floor, echoing the whirling solo that opens the piece, and dancers manipulating one another as if they were inanimate objects. A man, for instance, carelessly tosses a woman, who remains frozen in a seated position even though she’s long since left the chair in which she was sitting.
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Sat 10/13, 8 PM, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, 312-334-7777, harristheaterchicago.org, $25-$65.
