Our Works
Invertigo casts an expansive repertory web of dance theatre.
Our blend of choreography and storytelling inverts cultural norms and offers unusual twists. From timely topics of natural disaster recovery to queer mathematical genius Alan Turing, Invertigo turns an unflinching, wild-bodied, big-hearted eye to stories that the collective body of dance can unearth in a way no other art form can.
OUR REPERTORY
From immersive, site-specific works to full-length, multi-media dance theatre runs to community-driven storytelling dance projects, Invertigo’s repertory work responds to vital questions at the center of the human story.

Formulae & Fairy Tales

Dreams of Grandeur

Starry-Eyed and Sleepless

After It Happened

House Lights Up

Reeling

Mine, Abandoned – film

Sugar Plum Jam

Descent of the Docent

Waiting at Home for the Witches

Mishpachah

Give Me Wings

Rococo Baroquo

Whether the Weather

WreckTangle

Falling for Feathers

Swept Away

Saxy

Q&A

Fun in Limbo

Formulae & Fairy Tales
2019
Created by: Laura Karlin, and choreographed in collaboration with the dancers
Cast: 7 dancers
Dancers and co-choreographers: Cody Brunelle-Potter, Hyosun Choi, Jessica Dunn, Spencer Jensen, Corina Kinnear, Dominique McDougal, Luke Dakota ZenderThanks also to William Clayton, Adrian Hoffman, Isaac Huerta and Shane Raiford for their choreographic contributions during the development of the show.
Music by: Toby Karlin, Julia Kent, Eric Mason
Description: Formulae & Fairy Tales is a full-length work casting the life of Alan Turing, mathematical genius and World War II codebreaker, into the technicolor and mythologized ideas of his favorite film, Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Math, sex, fairy tales, humor, death.
Run time: 65 minutes, no intermission
Video projection design: NightLight Lab, Lighting design: RS Buck, Costume design: Rosalida Medina, Stage manager: Celestial Zenith, Rehearsal Director: Mallory Fabian
Press: Los Angeles Times
“In a breakthrough show, Invertigo Dance takes a delicious bite from a forbidden apple” - Los Angeles Times
Presenters: The Broad Stage, Santa Monica CA: 2019The Wilson Center, Wilmington NCUniversity of Florida Performing Arts, Gainesville FL
Photo Galleries: Click here and here.
Video Gallery: Click here.

Dreams of Grandeur
2013, 2015, 2018, 2019
Created by: Laura Karlin, and choreographed in collaboration with the performers
Cast: flexible, between 5 and 12 dancers, can include live music
Description: Invertigo artists infuse a space with vibrance and virtuosity. Stories unfold, turning any venue into a dreamscape. Audience members are given new perspectives, of both the space and themselves.
Venues: site-responsive and open to many types of spaces
Run Time: depending on the commission, 15-65 minutes
Presenters: Grand Park, Descanso Gardens, Studio Hyphen/The Venetian Las Vegas, Walt Disney Concert Hall/Blue Ribbon Commission, private venues including celebrity parties

Starry-Eyed and Sleepless
2018
Created by: Laura Karlin and Sadie Yarrington, choreographed in collaboration with the performers
Cast: 5 dancers
Performed and Co-Choreographed by: Heidi Buehler, Hyosun Choi, Christian Farjado, Isaac Huerta, and Sadie Yarrington
Description: A pop-up, immersive experience, inspired by the disco dance halls of the 70s that represented a sanctuary for folx on the fringe. Invertigo embodies lush decadence, queer celebration, gritty underbelly and starry-eyed disco dreams. A sea of miniature disco balls, an alleyway tryste, a diva’s fall from grace.
Venues: site-responsive and open to many types of spaces
Run Time: depending on the commission, 20 minutes to a full evening of pop-up experiences
Presenters: Music Center, Sowden House, private venues
Video Gallery: Click here.

After It Happened
2014-2016
Created by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the performers
Cast: 9 dancers, 2 musicians
Dancers and Co-Choreographers: Jonathan Bryant, Hyosun Choi, Louie Cornejo, Jessica Dunn, Sofia Klass, Irene Kleinbauer, Jodie Mashburn, Ryan Ruiz, Chris Smith, Cody Wilbourn, Sadie Yarrington
Music by: Toby Karlin, Diana Lynn and Hyosun Choi
Run Time: 80 minutes, plus intermission
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium stages and some black box theatres
Description: Set in the aftermath of a natural disaster, After It Happened, is a story of human resilience, desperation and regrowth, as a community rebuilds itself and searches for hope among the refuse.
Press: "With wild abandon, slick partnering, and sensitive storytelling . . . After It Happened strategically melds dynamic physicality, voice and music to reveal the human condition in a post-calamity community." - Bachtrack
LA Weekly Pick of the Week: "Invertigo Dance Theatre has a knack for taking an off-kilter viewpoint, creating insightful, contemporary dance theater tinged with wry humor." - LA Weekly
Presenters: Ford Theatres: 2016Odyssey Theatre: 2014
Photo Galleries: Click here, here and here.
Video Gallery: Click here.

House Lights Up
2016
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin and Jonathan Bryant, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Jonathan Bryant, Heidi Buehler, Hyosun Choi, Jessica Dunn, Christian Farjado, Beau Foley, Corina Kinnear, Sofia Klass, Irene Kleinbauer, Chris Smith
Costume Design: Rosalida Medina
Description: Audience etiquette is flipped inside-out as the unexpected becomes the norm; dancers perform in the seats of a theatre whilst the audience stands in the orchestra pit or on the stage, navigating the line between spectator and spectacle.
Press: “Kinetic, highly athletic and beautifully crafted.” – See Dance“Poetic flights of fancy . . . a whimsical display of turning torsos, lyrical lifts and statuesque stances.” – LA Times
Run time: 18 minutes
Commissioned and Presented by: Music Center: 2016 for their Moves After Dark programa
Video Trailer: Click here.

Reeling
2009, 2015
Created by: Laura Karlin, and choreographed in collaboration with the dancers
Cast (2019): Chelsea Asman, Bahareh Ebrahimzadeh, F. Nicholas Factoran, SaraAnne Fahey, Jeremy Hahn, Jermaine F. Johnson, Jessica LeCheminant and Courtney Ozovek with live original music by Toby Karlin, Lucas Martinez and Najeeb Sabour
Cast (2015): Jonathan Bryant, Heidi Buehler, Hyosun Choi, Louie Cornejo, Jessica Dunn, Sofia Klass, Irene Kleinbauer, Alex Malachi Middleton, Sadie Yarrington.
Costume Design: Kate Bishop
Set Design: Arad Vejani (2009), John Burton (2015)
Description: A blend of dance, theatre, precisely choreographed tequila shots, jumping off a dive bar, opulent karaoke fantasies and a goldfish. Eight lonely-hearts search for connection through the hazy sea of a night out.
Presenters: 2015: Moss Theatre (Los Angeles), White Box (San Diego), New Vic (Santa Barbara)2009: Odyssey Theatre
Photo Gallery: Click here.
Video Trailer: Click here.

Mine, Abandoned – film
2015
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Jessica Dunn and Alex Malachi Middleton
Music by: Zoë Keating
A stunning duet rooted in shared strength amongst stark surroundings - an abandoned mine in the Mojave.
Presenters: UCLA Royce Hall/Dance Camera West
Trailer: Click here.
Film: Click here.

Sugar Plum Jam
2015
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced and co-choreographed by: Heidi Buehler, Jonathan Bryant, Hyosun Choi, Louie Cornejo, Jessica Dunn, Sofia Klass, Irene Kleinbauer, Alex Malachi Middleton, Sarah Yarrington
Description: A special confection for the holidays. Set to music by Chris Thomas, this is what happens when you make Santa's naughty list. In a "Tim Burton meets Tschaikowsky" twist, this piece brings mischief and mayhem to the stage.
Presenter: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA County Holiday Celebration
Trailer: Click here.

Descent of the Docent
2013-2014
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin in collaboration with the performers
Danced by: Hannah Louise Beavers, Carole Biers, Louie Cornejo, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn, Cody Wilbourn, Bernadette Sullivan (2013), Erin Schlabach (2014), Mary Tarpley (2010), Sadie Yarrington (2014)
Music by: Toby Karlin
Costume Design: Kate Bishop
Run Time: 40 minutes
Description: A museum guide (docent) takes the audience on a quirky, funny and engaging tour through a contemporary dance piece.
Presenters: Hollywood Dance Center, Hollywood Fringe Festival, Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, Highways Performance Space, Pasadena Dance Festival, Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Waiting at Home for the Witches
2013-2014
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Zsolt Banki, Chris Smith, Cody Wilbourn
Music by: Antony and the Johnsons, Ruby Colley, Tom Waits
Costume Design: Kate Bishop
Set Design: Isak Ziegner
Description: The husbands of Macbeth's Weird Sisters are stuck at home, waiting for their wives and getting into toil and trouble of their own.
Run time: 20 minutes
Presenters: Independent Shakespeare Co., Ford Amphitheater, LA Dance Festival
Photo Gallery: Click here.

Mishpachah
2013
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Linda Berghoff, Hannah Bloom (understudy), Hyosun Choi, Louie Cornejo, Jeremy Hahn, Laura Karlin, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn
Music by:Toby Karlin
Costume Design: Kate Bishop
Description: Mishpachah is Hebrew for “family” and emphasises the bonds that join family. Celebrating the concept of family and celebration through a Jewish lens, this piece is full of warm feelings and familial closeness.
Presenter: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA County Holiday Celebration
Photo Gallery: Click here.

Give Me Wings
2012
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Hannah Louise Beavers, Carole Biers, Louie Cornejo, F. Nicholas Factoran, Laura Karlin, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn, Chris Smith, Kim Thompson
Music by: Toby Karlin
Costume Design: Kate Bishop
Run Time: 14 minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium stages
Description: Gives Me Wings moves the audience between Onstage and Offstage, past the stage wings and into the elation, humiliation, warm-up rituals and unexpected involvement of the stage manager of the backstage world.
Presenter: Alex Theatre, Celebrate Dance
Photo Gallery: Click here.

Rococo Baroquo
2012
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Hannah Louise Beavers, SaraAnne Fahey, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn, Kim Thompson
Music by: Nabeel Afsar, Shane Kennedy
Costume Design: Laura Karlin, Erin Schlabach, Kharen Zeunert
Description: Rococo fashions and vaudevillian interactions are the highlight of Rococo Baroquo at the iconic Urban Light installation at LACMA.
Presenter: LA County Museum of Art

Whether the Weather
2012
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, in collaboration with the dancers
Danced by: Hannah Louise Beavers, Hannah Blume, Louie Cornejo, SaraAnne Fahey, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn, Chris Smith, Cody Wilbourn
Music by: Toby Karlin
Costume Design: Kate Bishop
Run Time: 5 Minutes
Description: Celebrating the sunny weather that characterizes the Los Angeles winter through playfulness, athletic movement and tender moments.
Presenter: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA County Holiday Celebration

WreckTangle
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin with the dancers
Danced by: Louie Cornejo, SaraAnne Fahey, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn, Mary Tarpley, Kim Thompson
Music by: Danny Moynahan
Costume Design: Laura Karlin, Erin Schlabach, Kharen Zeunert
Run Time: 30 minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium stages
Description: WreckTangle features a giant hoop-skirt and surreal landscape of bizarre characters navigating the strict social conventions of the world and their conflicting desires - the resulting comedy and catharsis is breathtaking.
Presenters: Ford Theatres: 2010

Falling for Feathers
Choreographed by: Sofia Klass, with the dancers
Danced by: Hannah Louise Beavers, Hugo Diaz, Laura Karlin, Sofia Klass, Chris Smith, (understudy: Cody Wilbourn) (previously also danced by Zoi Tatopoulos)
Music by: Alex Schnitzler
Costume Design: Kharen Zeunert
Run Time: 14 minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium, black box, and some site specific spaces
Description: Five dancers ruffle each others’ feathers, fly, fight and fall in love. Will fate or flirting direct love’s course?

Swept Away
Choreographed by: Louie Cornejo
Danced by: Carole Biers, Jodie Mashburn, Kim Thompson
Music by: Toby Karlin
Run Time: 9 minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium and black box stages.
Swept Away explores the idea of an area where people are trapped in an endless freefall between sky and ground, a state of limbo where time stands still, suspending those people forever between departure and arrival, in the void connecting hope and fear.

Saxy
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin
Danced by: Toby Karlin and Hannah Louise Beavers
Music by: Toby Karlin
Run Time: 5 minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium, black box, and some site specific spaces
Description: Magic is made at the heart of music and dance as a saxophone player and a dancer lift one another, counter-balance argue, tango together.
Presenters: Ford Theatres: 2011

Q&A
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin with the dancers
Danced by: Hannah Rutherford, F. Nicholas Factoran, Laura Karlin, Michael Nickerson-Rossi
Music by: Deaf Center
Run Time: 16 minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium and black box stages
Description: Set at the end of a fictitious dance show, four choreographer-characters struggle to articulate their vision and inspiration, in a piece that is both funny and moving.

Fun in Limbo
Choreographed by: Laura Karlin, with the dancers
Danced by: Carole Biers, Louie Cornejo, Hugo Diaz, F. Nicholas Factoran, SaraAnne Fahey, Sofia Klass, Jodie Mashburn, Hannah Rutherford, Chris Smith, Kim Thompson (previously Zoi Tatopoulos)
Music by: Toby Karlin, Lucas Martinez, Christopher Votek
Costume Design: Kharen Zeunert and Hannah Rutherford
Set Design: Erin Brewster
Run Time: 60 Minutes
Venue: Appropriate for proscenium or black box
Description: Fun in Limbo is inspired by the character Miss Havisham, from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Part Dickens, part One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and part European dance theatre, “Fun in Limbo” creates a strange, beautiful world of heartbroken characters suspended in limbo as they clash, laugh, mourn, tease, flirt, brawl, heal and try to find a way out.
Presenters: Los Angeles Theater Center: 2011