You would think that we would learn from our mistakes. Just the fact that choreographer Beth Corning addressed the abuse of women back in 1996 with LEGAL INNOCENCE should be enough. But it is ongoing because some of us still haven’t learned.

However Corning has. She has 26 years of accumulated historical and personal perspective — a keen eye if you will — something we don’t often see in the usually youth-oriented art form of dance. That piece, LEGAL INNOCENCE, has evolved into the wryly-titled HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a dance theater work that, in its current form, has more than 100 years of life experiences to savor.

Corning opts to work with veteran dancers (meaning over 40) who can approach her work with a deliciously deep approach. In this case, we saw five performers, with at least 20 years in dance. There was Corning herself, resplendent in au natural grayish hair, along with Jillian Hollis, principal dancer and rehearsal director with Heidi Latsky Dance in New York; Catherine Meredith, assistant professor of dance at Kent State University; Endalyn Taylor, former principal dancer at Dance Theatre of Harlem and current dean at North Carolina School of the Arts; and Dionysios Tsaftaridis, a Greek choreographer who performed in Corning’s JUST HUMAN (2021) and found his way to Pittsburgh via an artist residency grant.

Read their bios for some remarkable resumes, too long to list here. But what might be the most important is the fact that they are all choreographers. That would account for the valuable interpretation that they brought to the material. And the fact that there was not much concern for detailed synchronization. Rather, the emphasis was on individuality, a welcome way to appreciate the creativity of these performers.

Corning appears to be on a roll. She packed a lot of intrigue into this patchwork quilt of dances, with scenes that tied into various fairy tale characters — Rapunzel, Thumbelina, Cinderella, etc. All a witty set up for contrast through the movement.

It began with the installation. As you entered The Space Upstairs in Breezewood, a large room with comfy sofas on one side, your eyes immediately went to nine vintage wedding dresses hanging from the ceiling at the other end. On closer inspection, the ornately flowered bodices were sculptural, molded of papier mâché. (Yet another Corning talent — she evidently constructed them with partner Cindi Kubu.) There were voices inside the bodices, each telling a fairy tale or personal story. I recognized some of them during the course of the performance through mysterious voiceovers. 

Corning entered and climbed a tall ladder and sat there sewing… her fingers (which she was miming). Yes, this choreographer doesn’t lure her audience down any familiar paths.

What followed were fractured fairytales and creepy-ish nightmares, jumbled and juxtaposed. (Feel free to make up your own story.) Women in a twisted relationship with a man’s shirt. Three duets for five people and six chairs — an odd yet mesmerizing wedding ceremony? A bride virtually suffocated in white tulle. A Baroque dance in red aprons, wide ribbons and  fake smiles. “Come here, little girl. Get into the car.” — a man and a woman alternate the text. (Think about it.) A ménage  trois, where one human becomes a life-sized puppet, quite brilliantly executed. A man in a twisted relationship with his own shirt.

I’m still trying to figure out a couple of things. But nonetheless I was fascinated once again by Corning’s utterly unique approach to dance. Call it Beth in Wonderland…taking us to another tale of her own making.

Through Mar. 26. For more info, click on https://corningworks.ticketspice.com/happily