To Zoe, with Vitriol and Grace

Yesterday, Slog mentioned how Zoe Scofield had been tepidly received by the New York Times.

Today, the Boston Globe pays them and their touring show—the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t—enthusiastic compliments.

Given its Boston premiere over the weekend by the Seattle-based husband and wife team and their company, it is unapologetically confounding, yet insidiously memorable, like a crazy dream you just can’t shake. At the center of it all, there’s a furious little heart that pumps equal parts vitriol and grace.

As the other dancers enter the fray, Scofield’s thorough grounding in ballet shows, not just in steps – elegant leaps and arabesques, pointed articulate feet – but in the formal clarity of ensemble movement in vivid, coherent patterns. But Scofield also draws from modern dance, Butoh, even yoga, juxtaposing luxurious stretches and graceful spins with flat-footed walks and a repeated march-like rocking in deep plie. The corps leaps like gazelles then skitters on all fours like monkeys. A playful trio dissolves, leaving one dancer manically twitching. Energy shifts on a dime.

Read the whole thing here (and The Stranger‘s profile of Scofield and the devil here).