Risk and bravery.

Those are things that Artistic Producer Michael Rubenfeld identifies as the qualities linking the work included in this year’s SummerWorks Festival.

It’s a mystery. Why does pure choreography sometimes create its own meaning, and other times leave you craving for context? For many in contemporary dance, the ideal is to let the movement speak for itself.

Wadded plastic, descending airplanes, and dangling mikes: memorable images graced each of the three commissioned works in Dancing on the Edge's Edge 5. Made up of two duets and a trio – Co.Erasga’s Adam-Eve/Man-Woman (Part 1), Peter Bingham’s right in front of you, and Serge Bennathan’s Slam for a Timetraveller – the program chanced to follow a classic narrative arc, from emergence in the first piece, to greatest tension in the middle, and restoration of harmony at the end.