On this hottest day of summer the cool fjords of Norway refresh in the Treaders performance of "Seraphita." In the sanctuary of the beautiful church, the 45-minute dance provides quiet respite from the brutal dog days of city summer heat. The icebergs are evoked with cool, stony, minimal movement. The original music by Yashuro Kato, also spare, begins with a quiet measured drumbeat. A crackling track with sweet vocals mesmerizes like white noise and is somehow dansant; the sound and steps merge through the dancer's musicality. Megumi Onishi, as Minna enters with a small tinkling bell. In the story, Minna, a country girl, falls in love with Seraphitus, a young but wizened neighbor who at first appears inanimate in designer Courtney Logan and Rika's combination kimono/shroud. Wilfred, danced en travesti by choreographer Naeko Shikamo, is also in love with Seraphita. Seraphitus, a.k.a. Seraphita, takes on male, and more intuitive female traits, winning the worship of both companions. Dancing at the two ends of the long (16 foot) sleeves of her costume, Shikamo and Onishi pine for the elusive and unattainable figure. They spiral toward her, only to be cast away.

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