Renovate: A Choreographers' Evening, v. 2012

Minneapolis, Minnesota


For five years, the Ballet of the Dolls and the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis have presented "Renovate," annual dance performances that display the creative outcomes of a dozen different dance makers and the performers they enlist or employ. Bravo to all involved, both for this year's production and for the sustained effort over time!


These presentations help keep dance insiders informed about the creative currents and personalities of their field. They also provide new and independent artists an opportunity to have their work seen by a public. Whether they also help develop a broader audience for the art form, however, is less certain. As a dance insider myself, I knew about this year's performances, but only barely.

  

"Renovate" • 5th Annual Choreographers' Evening at the Ritz Theater

For sure, enticing an audience in the hope of its engagement can be tough when the daily newspaper in town does not include one's performance in its print calendar listings. However, people with dances to be seen, whether their efforts are emerging or established, can and must do more to help their cause.


At minimum, we must consider how we communicate about what we are doing. Like other sponsors in this city and elsewhere, the Ritz attaches the title of "choreographers' evening" to these performances, even when an evening might be an afternoon. Moreover, for those not familiar with the ways and words of dance, the phrase "choreographers' evening" may evoke either opaque stares of incomprehension or visions of a who's-who cocktail party at which one is probably not welcome. 


If their intent is to introduce a performing product line to new customers, presenting venues and their partners may find it apt to use more vernacular descriptions, something, for example, like "a sampling of dance morsels," and explain how they are like the cheese samples handed out in grocery stores on Saturday mornings. Food, in other words, designed for the heart, mind, and soul.

"Going to the Soirée" • Jim Smith

God lives in the details, and words matter in a hyped-up world. People who cast ballots at the polls and spend dollars in the marketplace are a discerning lot. They pay attention to nuance. They seek value and authenticity. They can appreciate genuine innovation, but not claims of greatness or uniqueness. First, though, they must understand that and how each election, shopping trip, and performance is an occasion worth their participation.


I started this line of musing when a friend and I shared observations about the sparse attendance and performer-specific cheering sections at "Renovate: A Choreographers' Evening" at the Ritz, March 16. It may be bad form or insensitive to say so, but with 12 featured choreographers and many more performers taking the stage, the house, with seating for 240, should have been full and the level of applause more generalized.


Getting to there is no easy task. On the same evening, across the river and a mile away, a dance company celebrated its 20th anniversary with foot-stomping live music and dancing, veteran performers, and a new house built for dance. All 500 seats of the Cowles Center were sold out. With disrespect to no one, one wonders what the Cowles attendance might have been without the explicit sense of anniversary occasion. Often, when looking at standing room only, we consider "a win a win" and move on.


I have learned repeatedly not to trust the hopes and predictions of novice and veteran marketing administrators in the arts. As a friend from a presenting venue in northern Minnesota told me last month, "Ten years ago, I could look like a hero to my board of directors because all my projections came within 1% of plan and budget. Now, nothing that I put on stage is predictable, no matter what I do." 


Ultimately, these issues intertwine with the reality that no performing venue in our state, new or old, suffers from overcapitalization. In that, the allocation and distribution of Legacy Amendment funds by our arts establishment has been disappointing: they gamble too much on projects for the present with too little or no investment for the long term. That is musing for another time, however.


Given all that ballyhoo, how did I like "Renovate: A Choreographers' Evening"? Answer: The first half lacked a certain je ne sais quoi, primarily because the several excerpts from larger works did not fully engage. Overall, the evening provided a chewy and nourishing meal, with a varied selection of novice and experienced dance artists. Featuring fewer works of greater length might be a consideration for the future.


For five years, Lisa Conlin has curated Renovate with a panel of three consultants. This year's panel included Colette Illarde, Jim Lieberthal, and Carol Meyer, one of whom told me that this year's 12 choreographers were selected from an audition field of 21. The program got under way with a late start at 8:07pm.

Sarah LaRose-Holland

Sarah LaRose-Holland is a modern dance choreographer and performer with degrees in finance and dance from the University of Florida. Among other pursuits, she serves as artistic director of the Kinetic Evolutions Dance Company, presenter of the Kinetic Playground series at the Perpich Center for Arts Education and the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, and presenter of the Kinetic Kitchen dance series at Patrick's Cabaret. The excerpt offered from "Going to the Soirée," a work she premiered with Kinetic Evolutions at Old Arizona last November, did not stand up particularly well by itself as the program opener. Excerpts can be a gamble that way. It was a colorful work, with red, green, and white dresses, danced competently by Una Setia, Hai Dang Nguyen, Kayla Schiltgen, and Jenny Snug. Set to music by Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald.


"How to Make a Paper Crane," a solo created and performed by Lindsay M. Anderson, featured a precise, graceful dancer moving with and against the rhythms and images of music composed by Steffen Basho-Junghans and a film edited by Amanda Doerr. The difficulties in starting the film at the beginning of the work were not as unfortunate as if they had occurred during, and the technical crew knows that. Anderson, a modern dancer who has worked and performed with LaRose-Holland and others, holds degrees in dance and English from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.


Conlin, a dancing member of Ballet of the Dolls, staged the Lost Orphans excerpt from her "Blue Heaven," a poetic, seven-movement journey through the stages of grief. The full work had been presented a few weeks earlier at the Ritz and in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Four women, Conlin, Leila Awadallah, Raena Smith, and Jennifer Mack, moved to an original score by Mike Hallenback in a segment that worked as a cohesive unit. A question: A couple performers left the stage and moved into the house with lighting that was insufficient for the audience to see them; were they doing something that mattered? If not, why were they there?

Angharad Davies

Angharad Davies earned an MFA in dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, has performed throughout the world, and choreographed and taught in the United States and Germany. Currently, she teaches at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and lectures at the University of Minnesota. "Fear," an excerpt from a larger work presented at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, studies the masking and managing of everyday anxieties, and was inspired by silent film images and German expressionist dance. Erin Search-Wells and Sam Johnson, both members of SuperGroup, joined Davies in a vocalized accompaniment to a less than satisfying movement segment. The visuals were striking: all three barefoot, Davies in purple dress, Search-Wells in red dress, and Johnson in white suit. In this setting, the lanky Johnson's expressive – though hirsute – face resembled that of a young Stan Laurel. 

Amanda Leaveck

Amanda Leaveck graduated from the University of St. Thomas with degrees in neuroscience and dance. She choreographed "I Love You," a fascinating solo danced by Christina Omlie to live guitar accompaniment by Tazz Germaine Lindsey. Nice, but I wanted more. We will probably see more with time. Leaveck directs Face Forward, a booking, event planning, and multimedia organization, and serves as artistic director of the Energy Dance Collective.

Christine Maginnis

Christine Maginnis, one of Minnesota's long-reigning dance divas, crafted an original, complex and complete psycho-drama. Throughout "Achtung Bitte!" its characters changed the orientation of set furniture pieces to reflect changing perspectives on three, time-lapse sequences. With Karl Heinzerline/The Butler as a witness, Maginnis/Frau Marquis vied for the attention of Gregory Waletski/Herr Marquis to scratch a particular and insatiable itch. Music of Frankie Yancovic, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, and Sergie Rachmaninoff. Maginnis will perform with Ballet of the Dolls for the first time in May 2012.

Jennifer Mack

Returning from intermission, the stage floor was covered with overlapping sheets of plastic laid wing-to-wing for "Just Within," a solo created and performed by Jennifer Mack. Accompanied by singer/guitarist Matt Marka, Mack moved slowly beneath the plastic from center stage left to upstage center where she emerged, as though from water, in a floor-length white frock and free-flowing long hair. The sound of moving plastic suggested that of rippling wind and water and complemented the distinctive visual imagery. Mack started her dance training in Rochester, Minnesota, and graduated with degrees in dance and arts management from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Karen Charles

For her part, Karen Charles holds degrees in ballet and computer science from Texas Christian University, and a Masters in education administration from Georgia State University. In Minnesota, she served leadership roles with the Perpich Center for Arts Education and the Main Street School of Performing Arts in Hopkins before founding the Threads Dance Project. Four of her company's dancers – Mackenzie Beck-Esmay, Michala Cornell, Karen Gullikson, and Jenny Pennaz – worked with a bench and a long stretch of black veiling fabric in "Childless Mother," set to Sweet Honey in the Rock. The program note told the tale: "A child should not leave the world before its mother. What does a mother do when her identity has been taken from her?" 


Jaime Carrera, a multi-disciplinary artist from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, totally owned his solo, "Residency," with a confidence – a conviction – that I have not seen in some of his earlier performances. Clad only in briefs, with house lights up, he brushed his teeth and danced for himself as one might do before a bathroom mirror when believing no one else was present. Or not caring if they were. Music by The Bad Plus.

Joanie Mix and Jason Lande

Another artist with a foot each in the Rochester and Twin Cities dance worlds has been busy since graduating with a degree from the University of Minnesota. Along with other activities, Joanie Mix co-directs the Rainy Day Cabaret. Roughly half of the eight dancers (Emma Barber, Lindsay Bullock, Sarah David, Emily Hansel, Jennifer Mack, Morgan Olson, Anat Shinar, Ashley Tanberg) in "Promenade Danse la Nuit" are members of that company. They performed to music of CocoRosie and Sneaker Pimps against a black-and-white film projection created by Mix and Jason Lande. From a dance and film with a social message that does not bash, we learn that there are 12,300,000 victims of sex trafficking every year, more than nine million are women, and many are minors. 


If one discounts the summer class sessions I took from a former Broadway hoofer who smoked through kick-ball-changes at the old MacPhail Center for the Arts, then Denise Armstead, another of our divas regnant, was my first get-down-to-business jazz instructor at Zenon Dance Company and School. "Feel My Monkey (WTF)" brought on a pleasant reverie as Armstead and Maginnis danced to Stephanie Lien and The Who with the sound of wind and old-time radio singing voices – Jackie O meets Maria Callas. I want to see these two dancing when both are 70. Armstead will perform at Patrick's Cabaret, Mar. 23-24 and 30-31, and at the Burnsville Center for Performing Arts, June 8.

Carrie Lande

Carrie Lande-Homuth holds a degree in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and moves in dance circles similar to the Rainy Day Cabaret whose ranks provided the six dancers for "Out of my Skin," her second work for a Renovate evening: Emma Barber, Lindsay M. Bullock, Non Edwards, Mackenzie Lewis, Joanie Mix, and Ashley Rose Tanberg. Set in two strong sections to music by Varttina, the first movement, in particular, displays powerful imagery with fists and arms. Parts of the work are strong enough to compete for a SAGE Dance Award. Lande-Homuth will have work represented at Kinetic Kitchen, May 4.


The original of this post was updated to correct the misnamed character portrayed by Gregory Waletski in Christine Maginnis' "Achtung Bitte!"

Contempo Physical Dance: Standing ovation, sold-out house greet newest Twin Cities dance company

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Half-way through the debut performance by Contempo Physical Dance, the new dance company founded by Marciano Silva dos Santos, I realized that tears were trickling down my face. My brain told me it was all about the refreshing innocence and conviction, and the promise of something good that was happening before my eyes.

Marciano Silva dos Santos

As an audience member, these are the moments to live for, not because the performance was flawless; it was not. Rather, it was impressive and inspiring. It engaged. It had raised the expectations of people who like dance that truly moves, and it had met – even exceeded – them.


The date was February 3, 2012. The setting was the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. The dancers were the five men and three women who, in addition to dos Santos, presented a fusion of Afro-Brazilian dance, capoeira, and contemporary dance. The audience of 240 allowed the proprietors to hang up the "sold-out" sign.


The 60-minute performance offered a strong, presentational opening with dos Santos seated on the floor at center stage, rotating himself with his feet as, from alternating wings, the dancers entered singly, first four men, then the three women, and a final man. 


From this point, dancers and choreographer led their audience on a journey through 14 seamless sections set to music by Gilberto Gil, the Mavambo Trio, Evelyn Glennie, Divan, Naná Vasconcelos, Dan Savell, and Virginia Rodrigues.

Members of Contempo Physical Dance, Minnesota's newest company

Both capoeira and Afro-Brazilian dance were created by African slaves and their descendants during Brazil's colonial era. The primary characteristics of capoeira, a musical martial art, include speed, power, and complex, sweeping leg movements. In certain casual respects, it roughly resembles hip hop breakdancing.


Afro-Brazilian dance uses the feet to mark rhythm, while arms, chest, head, and hips move freely and independently. Classes in the form emphasize full-body expression, rhythm, and fine-tuned motor control.


The fusion danced by Contempo is both exceedingly rhythmic and musical. However, a dancer who cannot repeatedly crouch, stand, leap, and move while on demi pointe (the balls of the feet) will find the going near impossible in this company because s/he will lack the overall strength and stamina the work requires. Ditto for the dancer who cannot master discrete control over every part of one's body.


It seems to be a principle of this dance form that the dancers' bodies, and not their faces, do the expressing. Often, throughout, I wished the performers would let their faces do the talking, as they did so joyfully during the curtain call. It would have added so much more.

Contempo rehearsing capoeira and Afro-Brazilian dance

At least eight dancers filled the stage for at least 80% of the program. Early on, the rivulets of sweat flowing from the faces of a few of them appeared to be choreographed. Later, I noticed no sweat at all. Even when the full company fills the stage, dos Santos tends to keep the men grouped and moving in patterns separate from those of the women.


The dance ended, as it had begun, with dos Santos seated on the floor at center stage, rotating himself with his feet as, from alternating wings, the dancers entered singly, first four men, then the three women, and a final man.


Mike Grogan's lighting design was probably the best I have ever seen him accomplish. The costumes, designed by dos Santos, were striking in their simplicity. Initially, all wore dark, multi-colored and patterned tights to mid-calf. These were replaced later by plain white trunks to which, still later, were added white, faux fishnet vests.


For the dancers, being present at the creation of a new company may be an infrequent feature of their careers. This group is both very strong and very young. All of them had control of most of the choreography most of the time, and it will be satisfying for us and for them as they become even more self-possessed and strong in their new technique.


Four of the men are still pursuing BFA degrees in the dance program of the University of Minnesota's Department of Theatre and Dance: Davente Gilreath, Timothy Herian, Orlando Hunter, and Justin Reiter, while Irving Amigon is a recent graduate. Both Gilreath and Hunter previously attended the Perpich Center for Arts Education.


The women are more experienced performers. Laura Klein grew up in south Minneapolis, and has studied dance with the Laura Balfour Dance Company, the University of Minnesota, and Batsheva Dance Company in Israel. Roxanne Wallace has danced with Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater for more than 10 years. Jenny Pennaz, Contempo's co-founder, holds degrees in biology and dance from the University of Minnesota, and has studied dance in Brazil.


Dos Santos is a native of Brazil where he studied and performed dance with a number of schools and companies before moving to the United States in 2006. In Minnesota, he danced for five years as a member of TU Dance, and also has performed with the Penumbra Theatre and Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theatre. Dos Santos also teaches for the dance programs at the University of Minnesota and Carleton College, and offers workshops and residencies at other educational institutions throughout the state.


The title of Contempo's debut, full-length work is "Motirô," an indigenous word in Brazil that means "a meeting of people to build something together, helping one another along the way." That is an apt description of the endeavor that dos Santos and his colleagues have undertaken.


Contempo Physical Dance performances continue at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis, through February 5, 2012. For tickets: http://ritzdolls.com. Photos by Dwayne Williams Photography.

Review: "Renovate" choreographers' evening at the Ritz

Minneapolis, Minnesota


"Renovate," the 3rd Annual Choreographers' Evening presented by the Ritz Theater, May 20-22, held together as a cohesive and engaging entertainment, even as it showcased a variety of talents and dance forms ranging from ballet to post modern. As she did twice previously, North Dakota native Lisa Conlin, a member of the Ballet of the Dolls, curated the lineup of 12 dance works for 16 dancers, with advisory assistance this year from Mariusz Olszewski and Vanessa Voskuil. The major aim of "Renovate" is to introduce and highlight new choreography and new choreographers – or both – along with the dancers who perform their work, by giving them a stage, publicity, and an audience.


This year's effort was the best and most satisfying such presentation of multiple artists that I have seen in years. Collectively, the evening included some of the best dances I have seen all year.


The top of the program began with demonstrations of dance basics as choreographer and soloist Elizabeth Bergman, attired in black leotard with spaghetti straps, opened "I don't feel it is necessary to know exactly what I mean" while standing in ballet's first position enveloped in a pool of downward white light. From that humble beginning, Bergman moved through a series of balletic poses and phrases, accented by occasional distortions of limb and line. Her music mix from GoGoo and Aphex Twins sounded like a ticking toy clock accompanied by a drone-like background of distant, electronic church bells. Bergman is a Nebraska native who received an MFA degree in dance from the University of Iowa.


Cade Holmseth, a graduate in dance from the University of Minnesota, has performed with several Minnesota companies and was cast by a number of "Renovate" choreographers in 2009 and 2010. I do not recall seeing his choreography in the past. However, based on "Just One More," his solo work for Brian Evans, we should encourage Holmseth to continue developing what could be a promising dance voice. A barefoot Evans cut a distinctive figure with his springy mop of black hair, white shirt, and gray suit coat and slacks. Moving athletically against a musical background from Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," Evans addressed the audience with personality-plus, offering to be any kind of friend that one of any persuasion might need or want: from cute, romantic, and sensitive to rugged and rough-around-the-edges.


One would not be entirely wrong in characterizing this year's "Renovate" as The Brian Evans Show. It was impossible to miss his charismatic presence in the five works in which he danced. A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, Evans is completing his third season as a member of the Stuart Pimsler Dance Theatre. As a performer who has come into his own, he also appeared in the 2009 "Renovate" dances by Jim Lieberthal, Marciano Silva dos Santos, and Julie Warder.


Terpsichore, the ancient Greek muse of dance, received a solid work-out in a duet choreographed by Taja Will for herself and Blake Nellis. The title, "Terpsichore Told Us to: 23 gestures, 11 poses, 2 solos, and 1 duet," provided an accurate description of the dance. Will, who was born in Chile, raised in Iowa, and attended Luther College, works with structured improvisation, and has performed with Body Cartography, Miguel Gutierrez, and Cathy Wright. Her instant work drew its theme from the neuroscience of dreams and served up an exceedingly fine and compelling improvisational performance by both dancers. Both performers wore basic black, she with red accents and he with yellow. From separate pools of downstage light, two soloists responded to irregular and staccato recorded directives to fall, jump, pose, point, stomp, lunge, sit, shimmy, stir, kneel, spiral, grasp, etc., before continuing the movements as a duet at center stage and again as soloists. As the movement accelerated, the voiced directives dissolved into an electronic score from which emerged a full-blown dance of sustained intensity. Nellis performed in April at Northeast Community Lutheran Church with Tracy Vacura, and has taught improvisation at Zenon Dance School.


Years ago, John Munger presented "An Evening of Classical Modern Dance." It remains highlighted in memory as a delightful and contemplative entertainment. While his dances always have been inhabited by idiosyncratic characters and personalities, each clearly drawn, his recent efforts, such as his "Nutbuster" solo at the Bryant-Lake Bowl last December, depict a darker element missing from his earlier work. So it is with "Wrath," accompanied by music from David Byrne. Munger moves with an enviable agility that belies his status as a sexagenarian. He described "Wrath" on a recent Facebook post as "watching somebody being dead serious about being angry about who knows what." Munger founded and directs the Third Rabbit Dance Ensemble, teaches at Zenon Dance School, and directs research for Dance/USA.


If one underlying factor allowed Denise Armstead to perform scores of choreographic styles and personalities during her 20 years as a member of the Zenon Dance Company, one might suspect it was release technique. It seems also to have played a role in her work as a choreographer since forming DAdance in 2007. I last saw Armstead dance in the visual arts gallery of the Burnsville Performing Arts Center in July 2009. Then, as now – in excerpts from "In Between-Between Places" – her angular vocabulary hints at the emergence of a distinctive style and voice. In this quartet for herself, Evans, Holmseth, and Sharon Picasso, Armstead displays a talent for choreographing whole movements or sections of dancing, but not necessarily for their ordering and grouping. The overall work felt disjointed. This was my first time seeing Picasso, who holds a dance and choreography degree from the Boston Conservatory.


Minnesotans have been lucky to have in their midst Alanna Morris, a graduate of the Juilliard School, as a two-year member of TU Dance. In "Dreams: A Solo," a work in progress, the Brooklyn native dances "for all who dream of something better" to sounds of So Percussion, Zaire school children, and excerpts from Martin Luther King speeches. A straw sun hat, red umbrella, and orange dress were perfect accessories. One looks forward to the completed work.


Just as time and effort often can shape the development of an artist's work, so it can influence the perspective of individual and collective members of an audience. The first time I encountered Jaime Carrera in November 2007, he was standing naked, center stage at the Walker Art Center, with waist-length hair that moved as his head tilted back-and-forth. I still don't know what that was about. I thought that "Frontera," his solo offering in the 2009 "Renovate" program, was coherent but weakened by its attempt to include too many ideas and elements. This time, to my eye, he has it together. "Madurez," using music of Final Fantasy, celebrated the resourcefulness and determination of artists who stay connected to the creativity of their childhoods. Carrera brought the house down in his lime green t-shirt, black denim shorts, black towel super hero cape, newspaper pirate's hat, and cardboard sword. Carrera hails from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, by way of Kansas City and Chicago.


When Jennifer Ilse and Paul Herwig, co-artistic directors of Off-Leash Area, presented "The Jury" at The Red Eye earlier this year, the buzz was incredible. So was the 75-minute show, based on a murder trial for which Ilse served as a juror. An excerpt, "Love Triangle," featured Ilse (red tank top, blue denim cutoffs), Evans (white t-shirt, green khakis), and Bryan Gerber (white tank top, blue Levis), all of whom appeared in the earlier, full production. Set to sound by Reid Kruger and text by Max Sparber, the dancing was, simply, hot. Compelling. Unnerving. Gerber, a dance graduate from Minnesota State University, Mankato, is a member of Ballet of the Dolls; he presented a solo work for "Renovate" in 2009, and appeared earlier this month as Wolf in the Actors Theater of Minnesota production of "Bent."


After the show, friends and I asked each other, "Who are these people, and where have they been all our lives?" These people would be the dancers Angharad Davies and Alex Grant, who performed "Security," the most cogent work of the evening, choreographed by Davies. Start with a quote from Cary Grant: "I get up in the morning, go to bed at night, and occupy myself as best I can in between." Add the dark, drop-dead gorgeous looks of both performers. Add for each the buttoned-down uniform of security guards: white shirts, black ties and slacks, brown shoes with laces, and, for him, a slight 5-o'clock shadow. Provide a backdrop of stacks of used, styrofoam coffee cups. Mix-in the mad and endless stirring of coffee in cups to raise walls of security and ward off reality. Infuse focused and committed pedestrian movement to get through a few hours of the day. Underlie it with charming, sublimated and unrequited passion that leads to one conclusion: if they won't jump each other out of their boredom, someone from the audience surely will. All I know about Davies is that she holds an MFA degree in dance from the Tisch School of the Arts in New York City and moved to Minneapolis from Berlin. Don't know anything about Grant. I want much more of both. 


Julie Warder, who began dancing with Myron Johnson at the Children's Theatre Company School, has presented choreography in three rounds of "Renovate." In 2009, her "Jammin'" was awarded the evening's closing slot; but for the competitiveness of this year's program, so might have been "Abandon Me," her entry as choreographer/director for 2010. Her placement, once removed from penultimate, hurt not a bit, however. "Abandon Me," with its examination of paternal legacies among generations, set to Kirk Franklin's music, provided an emotional tour de force for Evans (proof positive of his ability at barrel turns) in front of Mark Hanson's haunting videography. The work of Kortland Jackson, who choreographed the Krump (U.S. street) dance, will be featured in the Hip Hop Choreographers' Evening at Patrick's Cabaret, June 18-20.


To my regret, I have little recollection of Erin Drummond and her solo performance, "Rebeca Eats Dust," set to music by Chuck Jonkey. Her placement before the closer, and following all that preceded, set her up for perceptual obscurity. After dancing for Ballet Arts Minnesota from the age of eight and attending Columbia University, she deserves another, better chance.


One word, "brilliant," describes the excerpt from "A Word With You Dear," choreographed by Kari Mosel. Performing to spoken text, Evans, Mosel, Holmseth, and Kathryn Jacobs portray two halves of the same couple – one communicating verbally, the other physically – at "the root moment in a relationship when it is discovered if you love enough to let go." Mosel comes originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and holds a BFA from the University of Minnesota. She has danced with Shapiro and Smith Dance and Stuart Pimsler Dance Theatre.

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Review: Zenon Dance Company at the Ritz Theater

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Given the depth and breadth of dance-making in the Twin Cities, one expects and takes for granted that dances choreographed here for the concert stage usually will be good, if not very good. So it has been since the start of the current performance season in September. What has been remarkable to my eye over the last three months, however, is the absence of truly compelling choreography: work that cannot – should not – be missed and might need to be seen to be believed.


The 27th fall concerts of Minnesota's Zenon Dance Company, which opened at the Ritz Theater, Nov. 19, crystallized this dawning realization but did not prompt it. The programs of Ananya Dance Theatre, Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre, Ballet of the Dolls, Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, Arena Dances, and Zenon certainly have displayed strong choreographic competence and generally strong dancing with much to like, particularly the dancing. All, however, left me wanting – je ne sais quoi.


That may simply reflect the cycle of the creative zeitgeist – or the current settings on my perceptual filters.


Zenon's show opened with the premiere of "The Laws of Falling Bodies," a contemporary work for seven dancers by Sydney Skybetter and his first commission for the company. I was anxious to see his work for the first time, even if the music for this dance was an electronic score by Jonny Greenwood instead of the more elegiac sounding selections (e.g., Dvorák, Schumann, Arvo Part) I had read about for some of Skybetter's earlier creations. The man can create visually and emotionally arresting dances (see his website), especially "Near Abroad" from 2008. Unfortunately, "Falling Bodies" is not one of them, particularly in its first four minutes. The work appears at first to be a study of people using each other and saving themselves from each other, all while trying to distance themselves from each other. Over time, it evolves into a picture of people holding up the most fragile or endangered among them, but one wonders why we should care and where the rest of the story went.


With a Master's Degree in dance performance and choreography from New York University, and performance credits with the likes of Christopher Williams, Larry Keigwin, Kun-Yang Lin, Gus Solomons jr, and others, Skybetter's is one of the most interesting emergent voices at work these days. Zenon's artistic director, Linda Andrews, would do very well to invite him back to secure another new work – perhaps a half-evening effort for the 2011 opening of the Minnesota Shubert Center.


Skybetter and his company will perform in January at Joyce SoHo and the Skirball Center during the APAP Conference in New York.


A second premiere, "Filament," is a solo work created by Emilie Plauché Flink, artistic associate of Minnesota's Black Label Movement. The dance begins in silence, then is joined by the electronic strings of "Luna" from the "Touch It" CD by the Minneapolis-based Jelloslave. Although the movement has a minimalist feel, the impact of its expression by Tamara Ober was anything but as she threw herself about the stage, at times appearing to pedal an invisible bicycle while supine. Mary Ann Bradley will dance the role Nov. 27-29.


Flink's artistic pedigree includes a BFA degree in dance from the Juilliard School, 11 years of performance with the Limón Dance Company, and performances for Annabelle Gamson and Martha Clark. She also worked briefly for the Minnesota Crafts Council, an undertaking that helped inspire her to create sculpture and furniture from found/cast-off objects.


This latter impulse no doubt provided a seed for the metallic-looking set piece for "Filament," designed by Annie Katsura Rollins. Part oversized beehive, and part cave lined with brass, Aztec dishware, the set lived in shadows and invested the proceedings with a cocoon-like refuge.


In Mitch Albom's 2004 book, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," Eddie, the principal character, encounters five individuals after dying in an accident in his old age. One of these is Marguerite, his long-dead wife, who when he sees her is handing out chocolates at a wedding "for the bitter and the sweet." Eddie, who had loved her from the moment they met and never cared for anyone else as much, tells her how much he has missed her. "Lost love," she consoles him, "is still love."


A similar theme is at work in a third Zenon premiere, "Here, now that you are gone..." Set in three sections to music by Charlie Byrd, Toots Thielemans, and Stéphane Grappelli, the jazz duet, danced beautifully and buoyantly by Gregory Waletski and Bradley, recalls "his" love and the instances of their life together. According to program notes, as he is drawn into his memories he must decide either to remain in the past or to continue on.


The choreography by Judith James Ries, a former principal dancer for Danny Buraczeski's JAZZDANCE, acquaints us with the memory in the first segment, sands off any rough edges that may have informed the past relationship in the second, and leaves us to wonder in the third whether the memory or Waletski will let go first. Ultimately, Bradley, as the memory, exits stage right while Waletski remains in reverie stage left. My bet: he continues on but does not move on.


In addition to teaching at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts, Hamline University, and Zenon Dance School, one of Ries's next projects will be creating choreography for Park Square Theatre's 2010 production of "Rock and Roll."


Two repertory works completed the Zenon program.


"Not From Texas," looking like three pieces of cotton candy at the Texas State Fair, entertains without audience effort. Amazingly for Zenon, however, on Nov. 20 the four men appeared to mark the opening quartet with little authentic personality in what should have been a raucous stemwinder to Lyle Lovett's "Long Tall Texan." The succeeding sections, also to Lovett, looked more taut and together, especially the middle duet by Bradley and Waletski. The wife-husband team of Megan McClellan and Brian Sostek provided the whimsical choreography that debuted earlier this year.


"Booba," an odd set of excerpts from a 2008 work by Andrea Miller, closed the show, first with a showcase for six dancers, followed by a duet of Bryan Godbout and Leslie O'Neill. Although the most structurally strong part of the evening, the group work lacked interest, particularly the pseudo-shimmying across the stage to the rhythmic music by Balkan Beat Box. Godbout and O'Neill provided a picture-pleasing finish to the most colorful (costume-wise) and brightly lit dance of the evening.


Zenon Dance Company's 27th fall concerts will continue, Fri-Sun, Nov. 27-29, at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis. For tickets call 612.436.1129.

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Review: Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre at the Ritz

Minneapolis, Minnesota


As a way of life, flamenco chafes at the inimical strictures of the concert stage. That its art is known at all within the United States owes much to its expression by a handful of American Spanish dance ensembles, the Twin Cities-based Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre among them. Since its founding by Susana di Palma in 1982, Zorongo has presented traditional flamenco programs as well as its original and signature theater flamenco works that explore contemporary themes and issues.


Although traditionally associated with Spanish Gypsies, flamenco evolved from the mash-up of Muslim, Jewish, Indo-Pakistani, and Byzantine cultures in the Andalusian provinces of southern Spain: Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, Huelva, Joen, Molega, and Sevilla. The form is distinguished by its four elements of singing (cante), dancing (baile), guitar playing (toque), and rhythm (jaleo). In adapting flamenco to the theater, its practitioners seek to maintain the passionate soul of flamenco that may be found in the night-long juergas of the Spanish countryside.


Following an engagement at North Dakota State University, di Palma brought her troupe's Retratos – portraits – program to a weekend of performances at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis, Sept. 18-20. The program featured a range of traditional and thematic flamenco, delivered with a satisfying cohesion and strong, technical consistency.


Two opening segments nicely introduced the personalities and performance quirks of four accomplished dancers. A trio of Deborah Elias Morse, Sachiko Nishiuchi, and Laura Horn danced to recorded cante by Carmen Linares. Attired in contemporary garb, the women rushed about the stage as though in a downtown street scene, cell phones pressed to their ears, before preparing to throw off the frenzy and fashion of modern times for the traditional, floor-length gowns of traditional bailaoras. As they departed, Julia Altenbach arrived to deliver a commanding alegrias.


For many years, di Palma has drawn on the lives and art of women for inspiration in creating her theatrical works. A solo for herself to the recorded voice of El Pele, singing "Alfonina y El Mar" by Felix Luna, drew from the final poem by Alfonsina Storni, a 20th century feminist and suffragette. Beset by breast cancer and a broken love affair, Storni, a Latin American writer, penned the poem in 1938, the night before her suicide by walking into the sea. A videographic seascape created by di Palma provided a panoramic backdrop for the dance and song.


Pedro Cortés, Jr., who represents the third generation in a family of Spanish Gypsy guitarists, has served as Zorongo's music director since 1993. A panoramic sound journey across his strings in the program's third section earned him a rousing audience ovation.


Then, depending on one's perspective, Cortés and singer Felix de Lola either accompanied – or were accompanied by – Altenbach, Morse, Nishiuchi, and Horn in "Maja" (Solea por Buleria), a fast-paced closer for the first act.


In "Memorial for Neda," di Palma and company, joined by dancer Andrea Plevan, paid tribute to a student, Neda Agha Soltan, 22, who was shot and killed on June 20, 2009, while attending a protest in Tehran against the fraudulent Iranian election results that defeated the reformist candidates for president. Neda's murder made her an instant martyr and symbol of the Iranian people's longing for freedom. In poetry, music, and dance, backed by a video collage of Iranian protests, the company maintained a focus on the experiences of Neda the individual and those of the individuals around her, while depicting what became a singular event for a global mass audience.


A fiery, traditional flamenco finale ended the show with solo dance turns for Morse and Nishiuchi, followed by an exquisite display of solo cante by de Lola, who would have been welcome to sing all night. A bubbling, Bulerias free-for-all brought the proceedings to a satisfying conclusion.


A notable, if more subtle, success for the Zorongo program may be found in the performing presence of five, solid flamenco dancers in addition to di Palma. In the best of times, even in Spain, "flamenco's greatest deficiency is the shortage of good dancers" (Pohren, 1984, p. 59).


From her earliest days dancing solo in Twin Cities night clubs, di Palma found herself bedeviled by the shortage of flamenco artists in Minnesota. The expensive conundrum of hiring performers from Seattle, San Francisco, Mexico, and Spain for short-run productions limited creation time, stressed rehearsals, and restricted touring opportunities. The current company represents the fulfillment of a long-held dream, and results from the founding of Zorongo Flamenco's school more than a decade ago.


That, alone, is a singular achievement of no small consequence.


Pohren, D. E. (1984). The art of flamenco. Dorset, England: Musical New Services Limited.

Review: "Renovate" choreographer's evening, Ritz Theater

Minneapolis, Minnesota


A showcase for 40 dance artists – choreographers and dancers – provided a welcome complement to the first weekend of spring-like weather in the Twin Cities, Mar. 13-15. Styled as "Renovate: Enhancing the Edifice of Twin Cities Dance," the three performances represented a second year of choreographer's evenings presented by Ballet of the Dolls and The Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.


As she did last year, Lisa Conlin, a member of the Dolls, curated the lineup of 11 dance works with advisory assistance this year from Uri Sands, artistic director of TU Dance, and Penelope Freeh, artistic associate of James Sewell Ballet. The major aim of Renovate is to introduce and highlight new talents by giving them a stage, publicity, and an audience. With one exception, all of the choreographers were new to me, as were most of the dancers.


Hip-hop and breakdance veterans Lisa Berman and Carlos Garcia opened the program with "Breakin' Through Cancer," using a music mix including Everyday People, Everday Struggle, Underdog, HAIR, Do Your Thing, and Age of Aquarius. The two choreographers were joined in a variety of solo, group, all guys, and all gals configurations by Amy Sackett, Nicki Cullinan, Madeline Howie, Aneka McMullen, Joe Tran, Tybierius Nguyen, and Mikhail Sakhvadze. The ensemble moved with a nice cohesion and energy. As breaking evolves, however, its movers with staying power for the concert stage will be those who can differentiate themselves from their peers and colleagues. A sharper attack and finer synchronization would be welcome seasonings for this group's nascent virtuosity.


Megan Parlanti performed very fluidly in Stephen Schroeder's "Trial By Grace," created for her senior concert at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Her costume, a tunic and skirt in contrasting shades of darker blue, was striking and well-suited to the flavor of the dance. Schroeder's background as a modern dancer with Zenon Dance Company and Arena Dances is reflected here in the soloist's athletic use of space and, in the third section, time spent on the floor becoming acquainted with the floor. The abrupt editing shifts between musical selections – from Kate Havneik, Univers Zero, Jerry Rau, and Edit: sdeezers – injected a dissonance that served no apparent purpose.


Remember the color of Dreamsicles, those orange-white ice cream treats on a stick? That was the flavorful color of the costumes worn by Estevan Esparza and Pam Plagge in "Lucumi," the duet of Cuban dance they created for themselves to music by Pancho Quinto and Grupo Danzon. They performed nicely together, with Plagge displaying an articulated spine and body not matched by Esparza. Their choreography has a decent base on which to add more complexity and depth in future endeavors.


Although probably not intended or controlled by Esparza and Plagge, the abrupt departure of their many fans – seated near the stage – at the conclusion of "Lucumi" on Sunday was a rude disruption for the audience and the next performers in the first half of the program. The insult was exacerbated as the fans broke into conversation while exiting the theater and one of their number noisily dropped a beverage bottle into the trash.


While the printed playbill for the evening included a number of brief and helpful program notes, the absence of any information about the featured choreographers was notable. For sure, large photos and small-print bios were posted in the theater lobby. The omission was striking on a number of counts. Artists at every stage of development desire to be taken seriously. When the audience does not know who these artists are, and from what background and influences spring their creative impulses, it is near impossible to develop an investment in their work. This was true with Esparza and Plagge; I found nothing of use about him on the internet, while for her I searched enough to learn that she has studied somewhat in Havana and been presented in a choreographer's evening at the Walker Art Center. One should not have to look for basic information. A purpose of showcasing newer artists is to remove them from the insider's game and bring them forward for increased scrutiny and visibility.


Bryan Gerber is a modern dancer with a background in ballet, jazz, and yoga whose heroes include the modern dance pioneers Martha Graham and Ted Shawn. He accompanied the opening of his solo, "Finding Balance," with humming and other vocalizations that gave way to a recording of Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Op. 34/14. Attired in bare torso and shin-length black skirt, Gerber's well-structured movements, largely within a central pool of light, had the look and feel of a captive bird exploring its boundaries.


"Sisterlove," Lisa Conlin's lovely trio for herself and Dolls colleagues Heather Cadigan and Stephanie Fellner, opened with the three women seated, facing upstage, and backed by a meditative segment of Mike Hallenbeck's sound mix. The mix drew from Tim Story, Assumpta Est Maria in Coelum, Ray Lynch, and Minoru Miki. As the abstract narrative unfolded, the dancers interacted with large and small pieces of translucent white and black fabrics.


The last time I saw Jim Lieberthal's work several years ago, he had choreographed a dance for people in wheelchairs. The curiosity of his artistic voice leads him on some worthwhile journeys. He was joined here in performance by Brian Evans, a member of the Stuart Pimsler Dance Theater, and Debra McGee, a member of Arena Dances. I liked the overall crafting of "The Bottom Fell Out...and then." The dancers came across as three independent, interdependent creatures or machines, moving in an angular and staccato – pizzicato? – response to the metallic vibes, clanks, and hammering of music by Ben Siems.


Jaime Carrera is a visual and performance artist who hails from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, by way of Kansas and Chicago. "Frontera," his Renovate offering, is part of a trilogy about Mexican immigrants. In this conceptual solo work, set to music by Cuatro Milpas and El Llorar, Carrera moves with idiosyncratic movement phrases. In an interview with 3MinuteEgg about "Tableaux," his recent production at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater, Carrera remarked that he has "done a lot of stuff." It would be interesting to see him attempt fewer things and pull from within more of the complexity and nuance that clearly motivates his expression.


The choreography, vocals, text, and costumes composed by Cathy Wright resulted in the most cohesive work on the program. "Wombman," set to music by Matthew S. Smith, featured performers Nina Ebbighausen, Kristen Ostebee, Christine Maginnis, Sharon Picasso, and Jennifer Mack. The particular combination of costumes and music suggested a mating of Weimar-era decadence with "A Clockwork Orange." In a cast of strong performers, Maginnis shows she still has it going on after a career spanning parts of three decades. Wright's work has been presented by dance companies in Utah, where she earned a BFA degree in modern dance from the University of Utah, and by the Momentum Series of the Walker Art Center and Southern Theater.


Marciano Silva dos Santos, a native of Brazil, provided some of the evening's most complex and interesting movement in "3'0'1," a work for three men and two women, with music by Moana Maru. A solo by dos Santos, a member of both TU Dance and Stuart Pimsler Dance Theater, opened the piece, followed by a quartet of Brian Evans, Cade Holmseth, and Kari Mosel – of the Pimsler company – and Jenny Pennaz. The quartet started from positions on the floor with organic and cliched movement, and progressed to a satisfying finish.


The "most complete" performer on the Ritz stage was Christian Adeti, a native of Accra, Ghana. As a drum and dance instructor and performer, Adeti serves as artistic director of the Titambe West African Dance Ensemble of Minnesota, and has taught at Carleton College in Minnesota, North High School in Minneapolis, and Zenon Dance School. "Ganbolt Dance" drew its inspiration from the mining communities of South Africa where "the men sing and play as they look for gold." Adeti's body served literally as his instrument for drumming, vocalization, and percussion. He was accompanied by performers Autumn Compton and Whitney McClusky.


Julie Warder provided "Jammin," the last-but-not-least program closer. Again, it would have been nice to know something more about this artist than just her name. Working with music by Christian McBride, Warder led her dancers through an abstract drama with the right touch of athletic precision: neither too much nor too little. The performers included Brian Evans, Debra McGee, Cade Holmseth, Kency Roberson, and Aneka McMullen.


Housekeeping details: Throughout the evening, the lighting design did not distract, but would have benefited from a brighter illumination of the performers. The house manager needed to start the show at the advertised 7pm, rather than at 7:10pm. Those quibbles aside, the folks at Ballet of the Dolls and the Ritz Theater should be encouraged to renew Renovate for a third year in 2010.


Italicized text revised/extended 3/19/09, 5:34 AM.