Donald Byrd takes a certain delight in making audiences uncomfortable, and with his reworking of Petruchska for Spectrum Dance Theater, he’s running true to form. The 1911 original Ballets Russes production featured a tour de force performance by Vaslav Nijinsky as a puppet who achieved humanity only to die of a broken heart. Byrd’s contemporary version sends us all to a sadistic nightclub in the company of heartless puppet boys and girls. Performed in and around the Madrona Dance Center, with the Stravinsky score adapted to accordions, and with dancers mixing among the audience, this promises to be a very dark carnival. SANDRA KURTZ

Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 & 9 p.m.; Sun., April 15, 6:30 p.m.; Sun., April 22, 6:30 p.m. Starts: April 13. Continues through April 21, 2012