Dance company's double feature stretches the mind, the ear

Bring earplugs — and get ready to go to extremes.

"Thrashoholic," a dancer/drummer duet performed by choreographer Jessie Smith and percussionist Jeffrey Mitchell, is a full-frontal assault of a piece. Indeed, the word "duet" feels absurdly dainty for what's under review here. Starkly staged and lit, "Thrashoholic" is vicious, spooky, unnerving — as much an exorcism as a dance.

And it's none the worse for it.

"Thrashoholic" is the live-action half of a "Dead Bird Double Feature" by Seattle-based Dead Bird Movement, helmed by Smith. The opener is her film/video installation, "Left and Leaving."

Still, it's Smith in the flesh — angular, driven, demon-ridden — who's the must-see in this show. With her long-limbed, bony build, she's an instrument built for stiletto-sharp leg lifts and equally sharp collapses.

If there weren't such a strong structure to her piece, it might be tempting to characterize it as a channeled meltdown. But Smith is in exquisitely tight sync with Mitchell's pounding drums. And in the lulls between her most agitated passagework, she displays a coiling, elastic grace that's like a balm for the mind — a balm that keeps you off-balance.

What's it all in aid of? The title hints at it, and a "prop" introduced in the second half confirms it. Smith breaks some kind of taboo here and makes it work to her own harrowing advantage.

"Left and Leaving" — shown in an 8-minute loop on one large screen and three smaller TV monitors — was choreographed, directed and edited by Smith. It also features her in a yellow-orange tutu, navigating industrial wastelands.

The power of her performance is sometimes enhanced and sometimes diluted by jump cuts, abstract-color passages and the gauzy, grainy look of the film. Jherek Bischoff's musical score, however, is a perfect fit throughout, veering from rage to enchantment and back again.

The SoDo warehouse where "Double Feature" is being staged is a makeshift affair, with bleacher seating and two support columns that create a few sightline problems for "Thrashoholic." Choose your seat carefully, come prepared to protect your hearing and you'll have Smith branded on your brain. This is rough, incisive stuff.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com