Thrills, spills, and visual chills.

Extreme risk, adventurous dancers, add visually arresting stage design are all characteristic of Christine Bennett's evocative choreography. For the April premiere of "Air & Water," a programme featuring two works performed at the Regis College Fine Arts Center in Weston, Massachusetts, the Artistic Director of Boston-based Bennett Dance Company gave stagecraft a central role. She chose to elevate her dancers eighteen feet above the stage via a giant rope arrangement in The Net, then submerge them in a four-foot square copper pool of water in Well. The tricky rope design was the work of Dutch artist Pieter Smit, while the pool that became a central element in the second piece was created by Michael Dowling.

Bennett, who founded the BDC in 1996, uses an eclectic approach to creating a mood on stage, often incorporating sculpture, martial arts or photography into her choreography. "Air & Water" featured Bennett company dancers Andrea Blesso, Mary McCarthy, DeAnna Pellecchia, and Ingrid Schatz.