Company C Contemporary Ballet

ODC Theater, San Francisco

April 25^th, 2014

Company C Contemporary Ballet opened its spring season Friday night at ODC Theater in San Francisco's Mission District. A mixed repertory evening, the program expressed and captured the chamber company's dynamic twelve year history. “Aposiopesis” (2002) and “Partly Cloudy Suite” (2005) were joined by three 2014 works - “What's Behind Door #3” (which had its first performance earlier this year) and two world premieres, “New Country” and “Rise”. Aptly subtitled 'Adjusting the Lens', the five pieces on this program led the viewer on a journey through the genres, techniques and styles that makes up today's contemporary ballet scene.

Charles Moulton's “New Country” (world premiere) opened the program with high energy and enthusiastic vigor. Choreographic fusion filled the stage - ballet meeting up with a unique brand of country dancing. The resulting hybrid style conjured the culture of the Appalachian mountains, and with it brought a narrative of tradition and community through the stories of the people. Next up was an excerpt from Charles Anderson's ode to abstraction, “Aposiopesis”. In the third and fourth movements of this ballet, a circular theme was pre-dominant in both the larger stage patterning and the individual choreographic sequences. Upper body port de bras and renversés revealed the circle's expansive arches and broad curves. Edilsa Armendariz and Isaiah Sumler were absolutely sublime as the lead couple; when they were onstage, you couldn't take your eyes off them. Their pas de deux personified total abandon and complete trust. And as Sumler lifted Armendariz behind his back in a repeated attitude motif, “Aposiopesis'” circular focus reached new heights. Closing Act I was Anderson's “What's Behind Door #3”, a completely contrasting, concept-based ballet. Having been respectively preceded by a deconstructed narrative and an abstract work, “What's Behind Door #3” brought mechanics to the table. The piece was an exploration of how doors function and a translation of that mechanism into contemporary ballet and modern physicality.

Onto Act II and Patrick Corbin's “Partly Cloudy Suite”, an ensemble work for five women and one man. Chairs bordered the perimeter of the stage; an air and sense of casual-ness permeating the space. Dancers would take turns moving to the center and cycling through an assortment of variations, while the others sat calmly and watched the technique. It was a little like observing a dance class. Perhaps it was this casual nature or the lack of dynamics, but “Partly Cloudy Suite” seemed a little stale, and it was also very curious to have only one of the women wearing flat ballet shoes. Last on the docket for Company C's spring program was the world premiere of Maurice Causey's “Rise”. The ballet began with a sense of the expected and the predictable and quickly morphed into a gorgeous expression of the surprising and unforeseen. Conventional contemporary ballet suffused the opening moments, almost like Causey was setting a base-line. One that he would challenge and dissolve over the next thirty minutes. Quickly and with intensity, the movement ventured into off-center balances, parallel legs, atypical positions and men in pointe shoes. The score similarly shifted to include changing meters and complex time signatures. “Rise” was an essay of these delicious deviations. An otherwise flawless example of modern choreography, the lighting in the early segments was tough. Over and over again, a spotlight appeared on the stage floor and then floated upward to the backdrop. While the intention behind this particular effect certainly made sense for the piece, in reality, it distracted from what was actually happening on stage. 

AXIS Dance Company

Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, Oakland

April12th, 2014

AXIS Dance Company’s 2014 home season at Oakland’s Malonga Theater was an event to remember. Not only were there two amazing works from Guest Artistic Director Marc Brew and a dance film by Alex Ketley, but also on the program was a re-staged version of Yvonne Rainer’s preeminent post-modern work, “Trio A”.  

Pictured: Joel Brown and Sonsherée Giles
of AXIS Dance Company
Photo: David DeSilva

Seeing any version of “Trio A” live and in person is a gift. Such an integral part of the 1960s postmodern movement, this work still holds such value and necessity for the contemporary dance community, even close to fifty years after its premiere. “Trio A” is devoted to movement, physicality and choreographic tools. And because of its highly structural and formal concerns, the audience becomes privy to a rarely seen phenomenon. One where artistic creation, artistic process and an entire stream of artistic consciousness unfolds, free of constraints, narrative and assumptions. Under the guidance of répétiteur/stager Linda K. Johnson, AXIS Dance Company leapt into this monumental project, bringing the world premiere of their version, entitled “Trio A Pressured #X”. The integrity of the original project was intact – the single task-oriented movement phrase, the lack of eye contact with the audience, dancers beginning the sequence at different times and at different facings. For AXIS, “Trio A Pressured #X” featured four cast members (as opposed to the typical three), and two of the dancers were in wheelchairs. Rainer’s phrase was deeply understood and well-translated by all four, and Johnson did a superb job of staging the work, keeping its true intention yet being open to and exploring the possibilities that came with four uniquely different bodies.

Alex Ketley’s dance film, “The Gift (of Impermanence)” was a visual poem, a tribute to the work of this extraordinary contemporary dance company. Through a revue collection of snippets, excerpts and remembrances, dancers met, interacted with each other through movement and then parted. “The Gift (of Impermanence)” was not a historic chronology of AXIS Dance Company’s past twenty-seven years. Rather, through beautiful and touching dance imagery, Ketley was claiming AXIS Dance Company’s present artistic moment. Marc Brew’s 2008 work, “Remember When”, also began with a film/video segment. A black and white mall scene bustled on the backdrop; its focus, the escalator. Images of Brew dancing in his wheelchair overlaid with the mechanism of the cycling staircase. The film continued and combined with Brew, who was now downstage left. Specific, placed and accented movements spoke of mechanical processes, but with a lush, expansive undertone.

Following intermission, Brew premiered his newest work, “Divide”. Another quartet, this conceptual dance hinted at the space between perception and reality. The lighting design (by Allen Willner) was key to creating and maintaining this theme. Lines and squares of light appeared for a time on the stage, and at one point or another, all four dancers dealt with their real but imaginary existence. When the light was present, it created a true line or space of demarcation. Sonsherée Giles’ first solo traversed a balance beam of light – fondu arabesques, turns, pivots, shifts of weight – all never leaving that illuminated line. Later groups of dancers traveled in and out of light squares that appeared, disappeared and reappeared around the perimeter of the stage. Thinking along the title of the piece, were these divides actual or projected? Mid-way through “Divide”, Brew created a gorgeous pas de deux that had one of the most stunning dance poses ever: Joel Brown extended his upper body sagittally to the ground and placed his right palm on the stage; Giles stood on the left wheel of his wheelchair and extended her leg in a classic modern dance tilt. This long second position was breathtaking.  

Hope Mohr Dance

ODC Theater, San Francisco

April 11^th, 2014

Hope Mohr Dance marks their seventh San Francisco home season this weekend with a collection of premiere works. In association with ODC Theater, Mohr and her company presented a trio of new contemporary pieces, “Route 20”, “ridetherhythm” and a major collaborative endeavor, “Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction”.

The first half of the program was all about the intersection of science and the performing arts. “Route 20”, a shorter piece danced by Jeremy Bannon-Neches, James Graham and Tegan

Hope Mohr Dance in "Route 20"
Photo: Margo Moritz

Schwab, spoke of natural processes. A melting ice sculpture hung just left of center dripping into a metal pan - processing live and in real-time. Mohr’s choreography followed that theme with a deep technical foundation, yet envisioned with her creative eye. The dancing was strong and clear; the narrative, angst-ridden almost to the point of desperation. All the pieces were there. Yet even still, something was missing in “Route 20”; something in the internal connective fibers of the dance.

“ridetherhythm” gave insight into the mind of the scientific genius. With lab coats, a whiteboard and repetitive spoken equations, the scientific process again took center stage. “ridetherhythm” was much more of a dance theater composition with ample text, song, scenework, and some, though not many, choreographic phrases. In any dance theater work, absurdity is a necessary component and “ridetherhythm” stepped up, from time to time resembling a manic psychotic episode.

For Act II, the musicians (Michael Coleman, Henry Hung, Tommy Folen, Gerald Patrick Korte) and the Hope Mohr company dancers took the stage for “Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction”. All the collaborating artists began warming up during the intermission, and the piece organically (and beautifully) evolved from the preparation phase directly into performance. The casual atmosphere remained for the majority of the work – the house lights up and performers scattered around the perimeter of the ODC Theater space. In the program notes, Mohr included a quote from Steve Paxton about intervals in music. And that is definitely what emerged from the stage. At the very basic definitional level, a musical interval is the distance between two notes. But that is only part of the story when it comes to musical intervals – the quality of each measurement (major, minor, perfect, augmented and diminished) providing the more interesting nuance. Mohr injected and worked these various conditions into “Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction”. The tritone (augmented 4^th/diminished 5^th) was reflected in the falling sequence. An inability to stay upright certainly spoke to this interval’s edgy, dissonant sound. The bright, cheery nature of the major intervals shone in the temps leveé in arabesque. And of course, nothing could represent the perfect intervals more than a classic turned out passé retiré. A truly collaborative event, the dancers and musicians played out a number of improvisational and chance games for the audience as part of the piece. That type of ‘in the moment’ experience is certainly exciting for the performers; adjusting to and being present amongst unexpected, changeable circumstances. But is it really that engaging for the audience? In my opinion, no. And while it is true that art shouldn’t be created solely to appease or please its audience, their engagement with the work definitely matters.