A wedding and two funerals, plus a host of other themes and impressions, formed the eclectic mix for "No Standing Still," Ririe-Woodbury's entertaining spring concert. This was an evening to become reacquainted with some dances from the company's past while enjoying the fresh spin given them by dancers new to this repertory.
The company has had to practically re-create itself this year. With only two returning dancers, four new ones have had to absorb the Ririe-Woodbury style of light, quicksilver lyricism, athletic ease, high-energy dashes at the speed of four-minute milers, and a certain tongue-in-cheek quality of spontaneity, humor and verve that are company trademarks. To their credit, they have at least made themselves conversant with company style. All are strong dancers and good actors who contribute vibrantly.Choreographer Douglas Nielsen said "The Inky Deep" (1991) was inspired by his feeling that man can rise from dark depths to new heights. It's an exciting piece, with the dancers first scurrying like swift underwater creatures from side to side, in and out, round and about.
Then a ladder makes its appearance - the means by which they can rise and master themselves. They use the ladder in all ways, sometimes falling back, sometimes climbing and balancing, in acrobatic feats, often in slow motion that has a kind of grainy lyricism. It's a risky dance but meaningful, and modern string quartet music of Zoran Eric suits its mood.
Shirley Ririe's "Three Aspects of the Moon" (1992) is a sort of Japanese-village "Romeo and Juliet," danced in graceful kimonos, beginning with somber mourning in black with Noh masks, progressing to rosy pink for a flashback to the betrothal and again to black after a savage clash between the suitors, leading to the young woman's death.
It's a strong and dramatic dance, with clean, easy-to-follow choreography and sharp, deeply felt involvement of the young triangle - Stephanie Nugent, Joshua Larson and Steven Fetherhuff. Ririe is at her best here, and Nicholas Cavallaro's evocative lighting makes the moon a compelling silent partner.
A return to a world of life-size dummies in Joan Woodbury's "Diverse Creatures" (1979) is always welcome - though in truth the dummies are looking a little the worse for wear. Little matter though. The piece is vintage Ririe-Woodbury, as live "dummies" put themselves and their cotton counterparts through some whimsical paces.
This dance is motivated by no weightier theme than "if it feels good, do it." The outrageous "Peg O'My Heart" with its zany ballroom acrobatics was still a show-stopper. So was the funeral with its pitiful mourners and eventually dismembered corpse, the gyrating "Andrews Sisters" and a final crazy-circus runaround.
In "A Dancer on a Stool," newcomer Joshua Larson displayed choreographic skill and, even more, an intuitive sense of the continuity of movement and its power to engross the viewer. Using wisps of Poulenc music, Larson also made free use of mime to create a sort of modern dance Pierrot.
John Mead's "White" (1989) revisited evoked quite different images than before. The piece no longer seemed Oriental, but very much a lyric movement piece, energetically American in feeling, as the four dancers reveled in the freedom of the first snowfall. Much of the visual effectiveness was due to contrast between the vertical descent of the snow and the horizontal gliding and floating of dancers' bodies.