On the stage of Cagli's Teatro Comunale, a mountain of trash complete with a dilapidated car, rusted tin cans, and fluorescent lights stands in stark contrast to the grandeur of the ancient horseshoe-shaped theater. A clear plastic tube slide and red coiled slinkys hanging from the rafters complete the junkyard--a perfect playground for i gatti, or alley cats.

The house lights flicker and the chatter of the patrons stills. A spotlight illuminates the junk pile and Movemiento e Fantasia Centro Danza director, Benilde Marini descends from its crest, a cat sliding gracefully through the clear tube with black and white hair extensions trailing not far behind. Moments later, Stefano Fulli joins her for an emotional dance to the tune of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Memories. The dancers exhibit extraordinary agility and passion as they swing gracefully on a rope hanging from above. Frayed pieces of black and gray cloth draped from their scruffy gatti costumes sway, following the movements of their elongated bodies. The tone for the evening is set. Storie Di Gatti has begun.

Seventy-nine dancers, aged 3 to 25, perform Benilde's creative choreography. The eclectic blend of jazz, momix (acrobatic ballet), and classical ballet numbers convey the different faces of cat life. The dancers portray precious kittens, mischievous housecats, and ferocious but loyal gangs of street cats.

Decked in fringed black and brown leotards and wildly colored hair arranged to depict perky ears atop whisker-pained faces, a group of intermediate dancers claw through the darkness from all corners of the theater. Once on stage, they perform in unison an outrageous blend of jazz and momix with ease.

Not long after, tiny ballerinas as young as three years old scurry from the wings scratching the air with small paws. Clad in white matching tutus and tights, the "kittens" follow their leader on tiptoes until the prima ballerina finally places the littlest kitten in a small basket and lulls them all to sleep.

Just as they begin to wander off the stage, four lurking cats in dark purple and black ragged costume with fearsome black masks atop their heads erupt from backstage. They immediately spot their prey and begin circling the sleeping kitten in the basket. Amidst the aggression, the four begin fighting with each other, dodging acrobatic kicks and rapid swats-all part of an act Benilde later says relieved them of their backstage hostilities. Following the performance, she proudly observed, "The fiction of the music became the reality of the stage." And it certainly did.

Modern American songs from Cats, Cirque de Soleil, Flashdance and Moulin Rouge supply the majority of the performance's soundtrack while more classical Italian selections by Piazzola, Ponchielli, Verdi, and Bizet provide the remainder.