I’ve been getting on a soapbox lately about non-traditional performance spaces. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a gimmick, but it seems to me that art is more enjoyable when the line between performance and life is a little blurry. You know, like you’re walking down the street and there are a couple of fantastic musicians unceremoniously playing on the corner—who somehow sound a lot better than they would in a hallowed music hall.

So I think that’s what makes this Saturday evening’s Fly by Night show seem so exciting. Maybe the space doesn’t quite qualify as nontraditional—it’s a dance studio, after all—but it’s definitely going to be an informal performance with barely any barrier between audience and dancers.

A little background: Paige Starling Sorvillo, a Bay area-based dancer who’s trained in Butoh and performance art is visiting the area; in response, folks from the Dance Exchange have put on an intimate show featuring a performance (live and on film) by Sorvillo, as well as by a number of talented local dancers. Expect pieces by Stephanie Miracle (a newbie who recently arrived from New York and comes with a great reputation), Sarah-Anne Austin, Kelly Bond, Sharon Mansur, and Baltimore’s Lauren Withhart.

“The work will be shown in our studio, so you’ll have to take off your shoes and the only lighting will be fluorescent lights either on or off, but I still think it’s going to be really fantastic,” wrote Dance Exchange projects manager Ellen Chenoweth—who pulled the event together—in an e-mail. The show is at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at the Dance Exchange in Takoma Park. $5.

Amanda Abrams is a local modern dancer and a member of the company Human Landscape Dance.

Photo of Paige Starling Sorvillo by Ian Winters