“Just as I know that humans can instinctively feel secure and protected by walls,” writes Felipe Escalante, the director and choreographer of Tabula Rasa Dance Theater, “I also know they reflexively resist them too. Why else has the North American border wall become a canvas on which artists paint murals and graffiti? And why else are multi-colored ribbons, inscribed with prayers, affixed to the Two Koreas Wall?” For Escalante, dance is not an ivory tower but a way to grapple with the issues of the day. His new dance, Border of Lights, takes the U.S.–Mexico border wall as its subject and explores the emotions around immigrants and immigration. —Laura Jacobs