What does it mean to be a mother? Christine Suarez wants to find out—and the result is a fearless, hilarious, irreverent and compelling evening of dance-theater that uncovers the myriad facets of maternity. Through her own stories and those of others—she incorporates interviews with over 50 women—Suarez exposes the duality of her personal experience as a parent and as an artist, and her struggle to balance the two roles. Channeling a mix of Sandra Bernhard and Pina Bausch, Suarez finds the poetry and mines the absurdity of our collective and sometimes idealized image of motherhood.

“Mother.F***er. is a self-portrait of my own transition to becoming a parent,” she explains. “It’s about the elation and the shame of being a new mother who cannot quite let go of her ambivalence. Somehow I knew that the only way to make sense out of my jumbled emotions was to create a dance.”

Best known for dancing in unexpected places with unexpected people, Christine’s past work has been hailed as “ingeniously crafted… poignant… [and] hilarious” by the Los Angeles Times, “savvy” by The New York Times and “smart and stylish” by the Village Voice .

Mother. F***er opens with three performances on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27. Tickets are $15-$20. Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404; (310) 315-1459; www.highwaysperformance.org