Ambitious 'Project Orpheus' looks great but leaves emotions unmoved

Seattle Dance Project is nothing if not ambitious. After an impressive inaugural mixed-bill production last year, this troupe of dancers formerly with major companies, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, has commissioned three choreographers to jointly create a modern take on the mythic story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The resulting 55-minute work is an appealing amalgam of dramatic lighting effects, haunting music and polished dancing. Most striking is the seamless integration of the movement styles of local choreographers Wade Madsen, Olivier Wevers and Eva Stone. Remarkably, "Project Orpheus" looks as if it comes from a single artist although the choreographers worked on their individual sections in isolation, chose their own music and came together just a few weeks ago to create segues among the 10 segments that make up the piece.

But despite these strengths, "Project Orpheus" is ultimately unsatisfying. The love story at the core of the Orpheus myth is intensely emotional, yet this depiction is oddly devoid of emotion. With the exception of Betsy Cooper, who brings a delightful sensuality to her depiction of one of the Furies, the dancers succeed in the physical demands of their roles but without the emotional depth to make their characters come alive. The result is a surfeit of swooping, turning and sliding across the stage but with very little meaning behind the specific movements.

Part of the problem is the cramped stage at ACT's Bullitt Cabaret, which is well suited to small theater pieces but not to a full-blown dance with six performers. One senses that in a larger theater, the dancers and the choreographers would have expanded their physical and emotional ranges to fulfill the dramatic requirements of the story. Even so, both Seattle Dance Project and ACT's Central Heating Lab, a collaborative initiative, are to be commended for taking on a production of this scope and for their commitment to new work by local artists.