Several years before Benedict Cumberbatch brought him to wide public attention in the film The Imitation Game, choreographer Laura Karlin was fascinated with the mathematical genius Alan Turing. The upstart brainiac’s work in World War II broke the presumed unbreakable code of the German’s Enigma machine, but his life carved a tragic arc from celebrated genius to prosecution, shaming and a sentence of chemical castration for being homosexual.

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Invertigo Dance Theatre: Formulae and Fairytales (Photo by Joe Lambie)

Karlin was particularly struck by Turing’s fascination with Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, his favorite film during his life that had an unnerving parallel with his death by cyanide poisoning, a half-eaten apple found beside him. Excerpts have tantalized at local festivals. Now Karlin and her Invertigo Dance Theatre unveil the entire Formulae and Fairy Tales, the opening event of this prestigious venue’s dance season.

The Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., Sept. 13-14, 7:30 p.m.; $49-$79. thebroadstage.org. —Ann Haskins

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