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Several years ago, Wally Cardona attended a trance night at a New York City club. “I don’t think that those kids were even aware of what was going on,” he says. The experience inspired Cardona. He was in awe of the energythe power pulsing in the cluband quickly became a trance-night regular. Cardona, a choreographer who graduated from Juilliard, was eventually driven to create a piece about trance music and club dancing, which have their roots in the rituals of ancient cultures. “I realized that there were lots of different levels to the idea of trance,” he says. Cardona began exploring some of those levels, including the link between trance and both Voudun ceremonies and Haitian dance. He was also fascinated by what happens when clubgoers hit the dance floor and performers take the stage. His latest work, Trance Territory, reflects these thoughts and features Cardona and his quartet performing to a DJ’s beats. Cardona has sought to create an “experience for itself, live and onstage”: “In today’s disconnected society, people need a ritualized experience to connect.” The Wally Cardona Quartet makes its Washington-area debut at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE. $15. (202) 269-1600. (Maori Karmael Holmes)