It's Saturday afternoon in the dance studio at the Menomenee Boys and Girls Club in Lincoln Park. The large, brightly lit mirrored room with an impossibly high ceiling is filled with young men and women milling around in well-worn T-shirts and sweatpants. Someone is making announcements about the stacks of new posters being distributed: "Remember, people, these need to be posted on the street before they go on the wall in your house!" A ballet girl checks out her pose in the mirror while two b-boys work out floor moves a few feet away. What's going on? It's a rehearsal for Chicago Dance Crash, whose show Tribulation and the Demolition Squad is set to premiere Thursday 16 at the Gallery 37 Storefront Theater.

"There are 27 people in the show," says artistic director Christopher McCray. "Actors, acrobats, martial artists, dancers and stage combatants. So the show has a fullness." McCray is trained as a modern dancer and gymnast. He's also a student of capoeira, the Brazilian martial art/dance that is a major historical source of today's acrobatic hip-hop and breakdancing. "I never felt I fit in one category, and Mark felt the same way," says McCray.

Mark is Mark Hackman, the founder and producing director of the three-year-old company. He's similarly trained in a gamut of dance and martial arts styles, acrobatics and—get this—professional wrestling. Given this kind of physical training history, it's no surprise that his mission for the company is to "explore and exploit the potential of human conflict and athleticism."

Hackman and McCray first met while earning dance degrees at Illinois State U in Bloomington-Normal. They met once again in Chicago through the dance scene, and continued their creative relationship. "Mark is who I go to when I'm working out movement," says McCray. "We found we were easily bouncing ideas off each other." After working on a few projects together, Hackman asked McCray to come on board with the Crash.

McCray elaborates on his and Hackman's dancerly simpatico: "For me, the wrestling stuff was so close to Contact Improvisation. It's the same weight-sharing, except [wrestlers] add theatrics to make it look painful." As an artistic entity, Chicago Dance Crash has no dearth of theatrics and dramatic pain. Choreographed by Hackman, Tribulation tells the story of a lost soul in a dark, chaotic world. "We've used the Christian idea of the Tribulations after the Apocalypse, but it's a secular show," says McCray, who is helping Hackman with costuming and organizational issues. A notable stage presence in his own right, he's also performing in the piece: "I'm in the Demolition Squad," he says.

The wide array of performers in the company are gathered through social and professional dance networks in the city. "When bringing in dancers, we take recommendations from other choreographers," McCray says. "We also notice people at shows, Dance Chicago [the annual November showcase at the Athenaeum] is a great place to see dancers. But because we're such an eclectic group, we really stretch out and get performers that other companies would miss." The crew also recruits new members through its Sunday company class at an Old Town health club where, according to McCray, Hackman has a day job as a "suit and tie guy."

The company is trying to reach a wide audience as well. "I would recommend the show to anyone," says McCray. "The music ranges from Roni Size to the Rolling Stones. There's a narrator that runs you through the show. There's so much going on; even if you have A.D.D. you'll love it. It's a good time. I think Mark did an excellent job."