Men in Dance mix awe and disappointment

MomSeattle · DadSeattle · SPI · MySeattlePix · My account

Local

US/World

Sports

Business

A&E

Life

Comics

Photos

Opinion

Blogs

Buy Ads

NWsource

Monday, October 16, 2006

Men in Dance mix awe and disappointment

By ALICE KADERLAN
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

The first program of this year's Against the Grain festival is like the tasting menu at a passably good restaurant.

DANCE REVIEW

AGAINST THE GRAIN/ MEN IN DANCE FESTIVAL

WHEN: Through Oct. 22

WHERE: Velocity MainSpace Theater, 915 E. Pine St.

TICKETS: $15, student/senior discount; 206-528-2006

Of the nine pieces presented, two were very appealing, some had a few striking moments and some were disappointing. Not surprisingly, the two best were by Spectrum Dance Theater Artistic Director Donald Byrd and Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer Olivier Wevers, whose evolving choreographic skill suggests a major talent in the making.

It's no wonder that a Wevers work was recently featured at the New York City Ballet's prestigious Choreographic Institute and that Spectrum will present another new Wevers piece during its studio series in December.

Friday evening featured a section of Wevers' striking "X Stasis," which was the hit of PNB's 2006 Choreographers' Showcase. The excerpted pas de deux was performed by two of PNB's most charismatic male dancers, Jonathan Poretta and Lucien Postlewaite. They completely embodied the quick-fire yet elongated style of "X Stasis," with its jagged edges and blazing theatricality.

Wevers' flair for drama, which infuses his own dancing, carries over to his creations for others, and it is very exciting to see him continue to develop as a maker of dances. Like "X Stasis," Byrd's "Interrupted Narratives/War" evinced polish in both the movement and the dancing.

Never afraid to tackle a difficult subject, here Byrd takes on the Iraq war, specifically the soldiers from Washington and Oregon states who have died in service to their country. As Spectrum company members David Alewine and Jared Wootan enacted the daily tasks of wartime life, they were repeatedly attacked and, ultimately, gunned down. Their flailings were set against a live reading of actual soldiers' names as a small child plants a small American flag for each soldier in an open coffin that represents their common death. It was a moving tribute to our troops and a political statement that doesn't bludgeon.

Deborah Wolf's "arc angle," Gérard Théoret's "Seeking Intrepid" and Jason Ohlberg's "Song of the Siren" all had moments of beauty and power, with Ohlberg bringing a welcome technical skill to the latter two pieces. These two will be repeated on the upcoming final weekend of this year's festival.

Alice Kaderlan is a Seattle freelance dance and theater critic. She can be reached at AliceKaderlan@comcast.net.

Add P-I classical music headlines to