IONA Dance Company: ‘Looking at a painting that’s come to life’

In the slow, controlled movements of ballerinas, 10 dancers in a circle dip cupped hands into their personal paint bowls -- each filled with a different color -- before pouring the bright liquid onto their scantily clad bodies. A twirl to the beat of the driving percussion from the live jazz-fusion band sends paint splattering everywhere. Soon they leap and shimmy across the stage, then slow to paint each other with brushes, or invite a member of the audience to do so, or decorate the photo paper under them with vivid hand prints. Later in the rehearsal, one woman leans over the back of another. She dips the end of the other dancer's braid into a bucket of paint, and, using the dancer's back as a canvas, paints with her hair.

'Paint By Number' IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre performance with live music from Quadraphonix Place: The Cupola, Honolulu Design Center, 1250 Kapiolani Blvd. Time: 8 p.m., May 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 (show runs one hour without intermission) Tickets: $35 in the interactive/splash zone; $40 for side stage seating; $45 for center stage seating Contact: Hawaii Theatre Box Office, 528-0506, www.hawaiitheatre.com

One can't invoke genres or categories to describe IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre's "Paint By Number." But that really isn't necessary. It's every inch a modern, surreal, unique, visceral experience that challenges traditional boundaries.

It's also just plain entertaining.

"It makes people feel like they're a kid again," said artistic director Cheryl Flaharty. "It brings out your inner child in a big way. You can see how much fun the dancers are having."

When asked about comparisons, Flaharty said the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas might be close.

Beginning this week, IONA has reinvented one of its most popular shows -- originally staged in 2005 -- with 10 dancers, 10 gallons of tempera paint, enough plastic sheeting to cover the stage and backdrop, and plenty of innovation.

Safe seats abound, but a front-row position requires some enthusiasm. White dominates in the beginning. This includes the dancers dressed in pale bathing suits (which need to be replaced after every rehearsal and show) and white body paint. But the color grows with the intensity. And sometimes that tint migrates to the audience, which is usually guarded with protective plastic.

EACH PERFORMER carries a color, and dancer Geneva Rivera migrated to red.

"For me it's love and passion and heat; it's a sexy color," she said.

Rivera stopped dancing around age 10, but through a series of fortuitous meetings with Flaharty, found IONA when she was 19.

"It saved me from a lot of heartache and emotion I couldn't deal with," said Rivera, who is now 29. "It allowed me to heal through art in a healthy way because of my upbringing and my life, and not knowing what to do with all of that energy."

Rivera's mother was addicted to drugs, and often disappeared for long periods of time, leaving her to watch over her siblings. For a while, Rivera's grandmother cared for the family and served as their foundation. But all of that changed when the children were returned to their mother, leading to a period of abuse, abandonment and stints in foster homes.

Eventually, both Rivera's grandmother and mother died, and she uses these painful losses to inspire her performances.

Now Rivera lets the dancing (and in this show, the color) tell her story, which often prompts questions from the audience afterward.

"I've always shared my story with people," she said. "I've never been ashamed or afraid. Maybe they can learn from it or connect with it."

That certainly may be the case when IONA invites a group of children in foster care to view a dress rehearsal this week.

A combination of choreographed and improvised movements produce a fascinating, random blend of hues and movements.

"It's like looking at a painting that's come to life," said Flaharty, who started IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre in Hawaii in 1990 after beginning in New York in 1985. "The dancers are actually the white canvas, and that first paint color that comes in is very vibrant. The colors all represent different emotions."

But Flaharty takes the presentation to another level. This involves what she described as a higher consciousness and an effort to "have the body match that spiritual realm; the work is more about how the energy or the spirituality fuels the physicality."

For dancers like Rivera, it's the essential component for every performance. Audience members, on the other hand, can engage in this transformation, or simply enjoy the show.