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JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble |
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Review: CELEBRATE DANCE 2007 ExploreDance.com
(Magazine) Glendale,
CA Explore
Dance is sponsored by Freed
of London CELEBRATE DANCE 2007 The
Alex Theatre by
Rachel Levin March
3, 2007 Before
the curtain rose on the second annual installment of "Celebrate
Dance," producer Jamie Nichols spoke to me about the fortuitous
connections between the nine pieces in the evening's lineup. If the thrust of
last year's program was contemporary, she explained, this year's was
multicultural, offering up a melting pot of dances from Spain, Brazil, Africa,
and Iran. She was thrilled with the message of cross-cultural understanding
that arose from these works in a time of great misunderstanding and conflict on
a global scale. When
the curtain did rise,
multiculturalism was indeed the order of the evening, but this show was more
than just a patchwork quilt of ethnic dances. A subtler theme of crossings
between classical and modern emerged, linking the pieces aesthetically. Taken
together, the nine dances Saturday night puzzled over how to modernize the
classical, how to distill the classical from the modern, and how to marry the
two. Pat
Taylor's JazzAntiqua explored
the
roots of jazz dance in "Sankofa," which means "return and get
it." Performed in three movements, the dance traveled from starless nights
in Africa to slave gatherings at Congo Square in New Orleans—the birthplace of
American jazz. Each segment added a new layer to the core West African
gestures, until in the final segment—danced to a recitation of Langston Hughes'
poem "Drums"—what we recognize as jazz materialized. The sound of wind
blowing filled the pauses in the poem like a whisper from the past entreating
us to remember. Dance has been called "history written on the body,"
and Taylor's piece made this abstract truth utterly tangible. Moving
in the opposite direction of
Taylor, Albertossy Espinoza's Fusion Dance Theater sought to modernize flamenco
in "Olé Gitano." Inspired by the tale of the Gypsy and his love of
women, the ensemble included one man surrounded by five females with bare
midriffs. Though there were flashes of feet pounding out Gypsy rhythm, this was
a very fluid flamenco of shakes, shimmies, and body rolls. It was, in essence,
flamenco danced to a club party beat rather than simply a wailing guitar. To
modernize flamenco is an ambitious project, and though the piece was as
entertaining as a Vegas spectacle, the recipe for blending modern and flamenco
to create a compelling new fusion needs more tinkering. Both
Viver Brasil Dance Company and
Djanbazian Dance Company were successful in updating traditional dances which
honored women from Brazil and Iran, respectively. Anna Djanbazian presented
Persian folk movements associated with feminine pursuits like daily shopping at
the neighborhood bazaar and preparing the bride for her wedding ceremony. Viver
Brasil paid tribute to Carnival queens with live percussion, transcendent
Afro-Brazilian footwork and gesture, and an appearance by the always-exuberant
singer Katia Moraes. Both companies reveled in traditional costume, which added
another layer to modern interpretations of the traditional. In "Chador
Zari," Djanbazian dancers covered their heads in gold scarves, while in
"Tribute to Carnival Queens," the dancers donned loose dresses and
head wraps in bright African patterns. Women in native costume are often looked
upon by Westerners as "primitive" or somehow outside modernity, yet
the dances challenged the audience to appreciate these folk expressions as
thoroughly modern. The
remaining four pieces of the evening
were true blends of the modern and the classical, sharing the common elements
of unusual choreography, an artful aesthetic, and surprise. Viktor Kabaniaev
& Dancers and Backhausdance—both standouts last year—returned this year
with equally gripping work, though very different than their 2006 entries.
Kabaniaev's "Largo" presented the theme of loss, in particular the
grief of a mother losing her child in a war. The three dancers bathed in blue
light cycled through the stages of grief at different intervals, alternately
dispersing, convulsing, and coordinating. "Push," an intimate duet
that explored the tension between opposition and support, was a departure for
Jennifer Backhaus, who often presents lavish ensemble pieces. Trip
Dance Theatre's "Beneath the
Water" dramatized the whale's struggle with sonar testing; dancers clad in
floor-length turquoise gowns appeared to glide as if through water. San Pedro
Ballet's "Ruckus" was like an exclamation point upon the evening,
with dancers in Technicolor outfits romping to Mozart's "Symphony #35:
Menuetto & Finale," a humorous intermingling of the modern and the
classical. The
format of a variety showcase is a
tricky gamble, but Celebrate Dance 2007 delivered both crowd-pleasing fare and
a deeper—if unconscious—examination of how the past informs the present. |
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