Something to dance and the dancers to dance it adds up to a fine 1989-90 opening concert for the Repertory Dance Theatre.
Don't expect wonders. These dances stop short of genius, and if you don't care for modern dance you will not be bowled over. But for the modern dance enthusiast this is an intriguing program, offering the work and style of several good contemporary choreographers in an attractive showcase.The company looks fit and well-conditioned, and the male contingent is the strongest of recent years, despite the fact that three of the four are new to RDT. Yet sometimes it's good to absorb new dancers and feel the slightly different chemistry they bring to a troupe. At any rate, esprit abounds among them and an optimistic, energetic feeling.
Saving the best for last, the company springs into contrapuntal action in Monica Levy's "Don't Look Back," set to Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor - among the world's most beautiful and vital music.
Levy combines and recombines the dancers, in solo, by twos, by threes and fours; quickly forming and dissolving, ebbing and flowing to the effervescent, quick-silver nature of this sparkling music. Indeed, there is a certain raw vitality, almost a carelessness to this dance, which revels in the music with loose, vibrant gestures and an over-riding sense of freedom.
Especially beautiful is the lyric slow movement, where the dancers' flowing impulses seem to come from the center of their beings. Give Levy good marks for using Bach in the here and now mode, but never misusing him.
From Beth Corning comes the world premiere of a novelty, "The Man Who Mistook His Life for A Hat," based on paintings by Rene Magritte. Here you enter a surrealistic dreamworld, peopled by men in business suits and bowler hats, women in cutoff elastic body stockings, and king-sized two-dimensional models of the men, made to circulate as a part of the dance.
The stage pictures are evocative, the pace is often trancelike, then pealing out into vivid, rapid bursts of energy; and always there's a very French air about this dance.
Especially charming is a witty, graceful little pas de deux executed by a couple who communicate despite the white scarves wrapping their heads and faces. Music by Meredith Monk, ranging from Gregorian chantlike gutteralness to squeaky high soprano melismas, somehow communicates exactly the mood of this piece.
In "13 Beginnings," Mitchell Rose captures the many styles that make modern dance sometimes wonderful, sometimes ridiculous; and Linda C. Smith is the ideal interpreter. With her mobile body, her flexible face and acting ability, she needs only a split second to create a mood, define a style or crack up an audience.
Another world premiere, "Avalon" by Mary Jane Eisenberg, promises a different dimension on paper than it delivers on stage. Though one does get a sense of freedom and well-being from the women dancers, the mood is more one of romantic grace than of unconquerable will and passion.
Nonetheless, the quite beautiful movement has an original feeling, and Bruce Fowler incorporates the romantic and noble into a synthesizer score with a few live instruments.
"Rondo," a dance for three men by Peter Sparling, combines the athletic with balletic and modern movement. The piece requires fine balance, physical strength and a sense of humor, since Sparling's notions are often funny; and RDT's men look masculine, alert and vigorous in a sharp, incisive style that owes something to Martha Graham.
Costumes by Marina Harris, usually loose and somewhat draped, in white or pale colors, sometimes tie dyed, added greatly to the polish of the evening.