The gecko is a soft-skinned lizard with a short, stout body, large head and long tail. The suction cups on its feet tend to keep the colorful creature earthbound.

In the creative hands of dancer Ingrid Schatz and actress Amy Robbins, however, the tropical reptile soars. Over the weekend, the two performing artists premiered their original dance-theater production, “Images of a Gecko in Flight,” at The Playhouse Theater in Belfast.

Robbins, a school counselor and Reiki Master, makes her home in the Belfast area, while Schatz, a professional dancer, lives and works in Boston. The two met six years ago when both were working at a chi-chi boutique in Boston and eventually became roommates.

The multimedia piece they performed in the intimate 40-seat theater is an emotionally evocative production. The two young artists use movement, language, photographs, props, music and film to convey how they feel about the challenges they face in the pursuit of their dreams.

Robbins says that collaborating on the piece stretched both artists’ creative muscles. The actress was forced to be more open to using movement and the dancer had to let language play a larger role in the presentation.

“We followed our instincts,” says Schatz, describing how she and Robbins put the show together. “I was driving up to Belfast from Boston last year in a blizzard and I passed the Mount Repose Cemetery on Route 3. I had all these images of gravestones in a cemetery, the place from which we leave earth.”

The photos they took in the graveyard reinforced the theme of flight, according to Robbins.

“We found statues of angels with anchors wrapped around their feet as if someone were trying to keep them earthbound,” she explains. “The idea of the gecko and the angel taking flight represents how we each find our own freedom – how we human beings take flight.”

In many ways, “Images of a Gecko in Flight” is about how young women like Robbins and Schatz make their way from the comforts of family and home into the world. Yet, it is also about the power of memory and how the past influences, often even foretells, the future.

Several sequences include the women’s relationships with clothes. They pull colorful costumes from an old trunk, try them on, take them off, toss them around and, finally, roll around on the floor with them, laughing and giggling.

The two dress themselves onstage in World War II-era suits. They tug and tuck, then pull and primp, adjust their hats, don their pocketbooks, before turning to face the audience with wide, practiced smiles across their faces. One woman turns to ask the other, “You, are going to wear THAT?”

“Images of Gecko in Flight” is a funny, joyful tribute to young women who are making their way in the world, discovering not only the freedom in flight, but also the joy of being earthbound once in a while.

Robbins and Schatz are looking for other performance venues for their 45-minute performance piece. For more information about “Images of a Gecko in Flight,” call Robbins at 338-3829.