[NEohioPAL] Berko review: Groundworks Dance 8/13 @ Cain Park

[Roy Berko]

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

 GROUNDWORKS at Cain Park; future dance programs

Roy Berko

(Member, Dance Critics Association)

Dance has long been perceived as an art entertainment for the wealthy,
educated and performance trained.  Terms such as “fifth position,”
“adagio,” “camber,” “shag,” and “pirouette” are foreign to most people.   Dance
styles such as hip hop, Tango, jazz, Samba, and Broadway may be terms that
have been heard, but not known as a specific type of dance.  This
combination has made attending dance programs a “no go” activity for many.

This perception seems to have changed lately with the advent of such
television shows as DANCING WITH THE STARS, but most importantly, SO YOU
THINK YOU CAN DANCE.  The latter takes unknown dancers trained in a
multitude of styles, and puts them into an “American Idol” competition with
dance  judges explaining what the contestants are doing and why they are
proficient in specific styles.  Thus, the vocabulary of dance, and the
appreciation of the athletic nature of this form of the arts, has made the
art form more popular.

An awareness for the role of choreographers also has been nurtured, and
names like Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, Mandy Moore, Travis Wall and Tyce
Diorio have become known, and their talents highlighted.

This new awareness places additional pressure on local dance companies to
produce higher quality performances and more creative and broader
classifications of dances as audiences understand what us happening on
stage.

As overheard between several people at intermission of the recent
GROUNWORKS DANCE Cain Park concert, a question arose as to why local
companies, some of whom are short on proficient male dancers, don’t tap
into the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE performers, not only the finalists but
even some of the more proficient cast offs.  Also discussed was, “how about
doing some of the works of the program’s innovative choreographers, which
are often seen only once and then thrown onto the choreographic junk pile.”

This is not to say that GROUNDWORKS, David Shimotakahara’s little troupe of
5 needs overhauling, but realistically Damien Highfield should be getting
near the end of his long dance career, and though Gary Lenington is moving
more easily since he has adjusted his body size, the artistic director may
soon be needing to search for some new males.  As for the females, he is in
good shape.  Felise Bagley is still the best female dancer in town,
adorable and dynamic Noelle Cotler has nicely replaced Amy Miller, and
Annika Sheaff is a strong soloist, but her height and movement profile
sometimes make it difficult for her to blend with the petite Cotler and
Bagley.

Performing before an appreciative opening night house in Cain Park’s Alma
Theatre, Groundworks’ performance was a nicely balanced program.

BEFORE WITH AFTER, a 2003 piece by Shimotakahara, with composed music by J.
S. Bach, found the dancers flowing to the classical sounds, with the
movements clearly paralleling the rhythm.   The piece acknowledged life’s
encounters, crossed and re-crossed relationships in what might be termed
“physical poetic responses to Bach’s compositions.” Highlights included
classic movements by Bagley, appealing facial expressions and body
creations by Cotler, and athletic actions by Sheaff.



WAY LEADS TO WAY (2013) was signature Amy Miller.  The company’s Associate
Artistic Director was a powerful, controlled, compelling dancer.  Her
choreography mirrors those traits.  Writhing, extended gestures, strong
springs, running, and body thrusts combined to illuminate “Lusine,” a sound
piece described as “down tempo, placid, abstract hip-hop, haunting ambient
bipping/skipping techno.”  Danced in shadows, the mood was enhanced by
Dennis Dugan’s lighting.



Award winning choreographer Doug Elkins started his dance career as a
B-Boy, a break dancer, is noted for combining “modern dance, hip hop,
martial arts and ballet with a touch of [Buster] Keaton and [Charlie]
Chaplin”  His dance creations are filled with humor and challenging
movement.



The very entertaining six part, MY HUMMINGBIRD AT THE HIGH LINE (2012), was
set to musical pieces on the themes of love and creativity. The dance
composition was inspired by writer  Jarod Kintz’s “If my love could be
represented by a blur, it would be the beating of a hummingbird’s wings.  Did
you know my love is the only love that can fly backwards?”



Songs such as “A Lot of Living to Do,” “Sway,” “I Got You Under My Skin,”
and ”Dis Quand Reviendra Tu,” were blended to make for a jive, rumba,
modern ballet mélange of classic, modern and contemporary moods.  The
amalgamation worked well.  Two highlights were the coupling of Lenington
and Sheaff to create a fascinating and well-conceived segment proficiently
danced to Handel’s ”Acis and Galatea,” and Bagley and Cotler creating a
delightful contemporary vibe while moving to Frankie Valli and the Four
Seasons, “Beggin’.”



*Capsule judgement: GROUNDWORKS DANCE presented another pleasing concert
before an appreciative audience on opening night of their August 16-18,
2013 Cain Park presentation.  SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DANCE COMPANIES!*


*UPCOMING LOCAL DANCE PROGRAMS*

VERB BALLETS, September 28, 2013, “Highlights from the summer repertory and
previews of works by Verb Dancers, Akron Civic Theatre; October 11-12, @ 7
p.m. World Premiere, SOLDIER’S PROJECT FRESH INVENTIONS @ Dobama Theatre
@8.  (http://www.verballets.org)

DANCE CLEVELAND, presents BALLET X on October 5 @ E. J. Thomas Hall,
University of Akron @ 8 p.m.  “Ballet X .  . . captures the push and pull
of relationships in sweeping partnered phrases.”  (
http://www.dancecleveland.org)

GROUNDWORKS, October 25 & 27, 2013, Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square,
presents GROUNDWORKS THIS FALL! (a new work by Israeli choreographer Noa
Zuk and a world premiere by Artistic Director David Shimotakahara.  For
information and tickets:  http://www.groundworksdance.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20130819/c0a8707a/attachment-0004.htm>