Part of any dance's power is its ability to create an illusion of ease, to have an audience watch carefully practiced and choreographed moves and think, "Hey, I could do that." In its spring concert, Danceworks proves more than capable of maintaining just that illusion. A non-audition group, they bring together a diverse mix of undergraduate dancers to prove that when people move in sync, the results can be inspiring.
It isn't a long program, but it's packed: solos, group numbers, a pas de deux, with everything from classical pointe dancing to modern hip-hop in sneakers and jeans. It's surprising to find how well the separate works hang together as a unified whole: this is not a string of pieces, but a show, with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
Most of the dances stand or fall with the enthusiasm of their performers. Some of the dancers seemed unsure and tentative at times that called for aggression and strength, as in "Automatically," in which choreographer Lana Young went after her steps with an eye-catching attack not matched by her other performers. "Strong Enough," created by Abra Stein, ES '99, was possibly the quietest offering, but Liane Mark, TC '99, imbued each movement with confidence. The result was a deeply felt simplicity.
Indeed, most of the choreography was basic and clean. A repeated arm movement in Stein's "A Summer Breeze" took on added significance as each dancer joined in. The twists and turns of "Elsewhere" (choreographed by Tracy Campbell, JE '96) perfectly capture the independent spirit in the Sarah MacLachlan music.
Technical choices, however, undermined this simplicity. Lights were overly complicated and ranged from distracting to detrimental; some moves were quite literally in the dark. In "Ashes to Ashes," choreographed by Bianca Baumler, MC '96, and Kelly Goetz, DC '96, the gels obscured lines and patterns, and made the shifting shapes of dancers just look messy. Costumes, on the other hand, were perfect, complementing the dancers and often adding a touch of humorous detail, like the black-and-gold chokers worn in "Dominatrix."
The group is mostly female, and relationships were a unifying theme. It was particularly nice, then, to see "Deeper and Deeper," danced by Dan Kellum, SM '99, and choreographer Stein. The pair stays playfully apart for the beginning of the piece, and when they finally come together, their tango is as explosive as their brightly-colored costumes.
The final offering has most of Danceworks onstage, moving to a medley of current dance tunes (even a brief bit to the ubiquitous Yale staple, "Macarena"). The energy and enthusiasm in this group is impossible to resist-you'll want to get up there with them. For these dancers, that may be the biggest compliment of all.
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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