[NEohioPAL] Berko review: INLET DANCE @ Cleveland Museum of Natural History

[Roy Berko]

**************************************INLET DANCE educates in collaboration
with Cleveland Museum of Natural History*
Roy Berko
(Member, Dance Critics Association)


Bill Wade, Artistic Director and Founder of Inlet Dance, is first and
foremost an educator.  His unique approach to dance, and his role as a
choreographer, are clearly evident at his rehearsals.  As an observer, I
was quickly swept up between the difference between Wade's approach and
that of the traditional choreographer.  Instead of operating as the total
authority and developer of a dance number, as is the pattern of most
choreographers, Wade is an advocate of collaboration.

The approach is based on his philosophy of "utilizing the art form of dance
to bring about personal development in the lives of individuals through
training and mentoring." He uses "dance as a vehicle to speak creatively
about life and the issues we all face."

Thus, rather than telling his dancers what to do, he has established a
format of safety and security where the performers feel free to make
suggestions about everything from dance moves, to costumes, to hair styles,
and props, in order to allow the group to work toward a final product that
is theirs, not his.

It takes a secure person to allow ideas to be questioned and to turn over
control to others.  Wade is a model of compassion and purposefulness and
creates a safe and probing place for his dancers.  They feel comfortable to
make suggestions, solve problems as individuals or in groups, and even
disagree.  The rehearsals are classrooms for learning creativity, problem
solving, and a systems approach to developing the arts.

Wade founded Inlet after working as an artist in residence for the
Cleveland School of the Arts where he founded the award winning YARD--Youth
at Risk Dancing.  He was recognized with the Coming Up Taller Award
at the White House by the National Endowment for the Arts and the
President's Committee for the Arts and Humanities for his efforts.

Prior to his eleven year CSA residency, Wade served as Artistic Director
and dancer with Footpath Dance Company, a more traditional dance
organization.

NATURE DISPLAYS, the company's recent dance concert, was developed in
collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  It reflects
the museums current display, "Nature's Mating games:  Beyond the Birds and
the Bees."  The exhibition was created with evolutionary biologists and
animal behavior experts by the Natural History Museum in London, and offers
a fascinating look at animal reproductive behavior.

Like the exhibit, Inlet's program was a combination of beauty, humor and
creativity, which combined selections from the company's repertory with a
display inspired piece.

Several of the repertory pieces had to be reimagined as one of the
company's lead dancers, Justin Stentz, recently left to pursue a career as
a Physician's Assistant.  This meant incorporating other company members
into those roles previously portrayed by Stentz.

"BALListic" is a delightful piece which finds the blue unitard-dressed
dancers bouncing on, and rolling over and under large red balls.  This was
an audience favorite.

"DOPPELGANGER," one of the first pieces developed by Inlet, is a
composition which examines "the miracle of gestation, whether the creation
of a unique individual, a work of art, or an organization." As in any act
of multi-participants, it requires a perfect balance of the parts to make
for a functioning whole.  It's a display of physical power, with gymnastic
and body-controlled movements, which was impressively performed by Taran
Brown and Dominic Moore-Dunson.

"WONDROUS BEASTS" uses structure and metaphors to "symbolize the challenges
individuals face when disparate characters come together for a time and
grow via new challenges and situations."  The multi-racial and gendered
group used agile moves and slow actions to represent the challenges and
changes that take place on their life journeys.

"imPAIRed" grew out of an Inlet-Cleveland Sight Center 2003-2004 experience
where the company conducted residencies for visually impaired and blind
students.  A duet of blindfolded dancers partner in a trust pas de deux.
The compelling dance, performed to haunting music composed by Ryan Lott,
was extremely well performed by Joshua Brown and Elizabeth Pollert.

The program concluded with NATURE DISPLAYS, a world premiere. Consisting of
strong segments, some weaker interludes, and long pauses for costume
changes, the composition is a work in progress.   Effective segments
included "Desire," "RAMbunctious (size matters)," and "Birds in a Field."
Less successful were "Mouse Connections" and "Frog Tango."  As a whole,
though it was intended to mimic the multi-segments of the museum's
displays, there was a choppy, lack of smooth transitions, and no clear
encompassing theme.  This is in contrast to Inlet's usual clarity of
purpose and organization approach.

Inlet can next be seen as part of Cleveland Public Theatre's DANCEWORKS
'14, on April 10 -12 at 7:30 at the Gordon Square Theatre, 6415 Detroit
Avenue, Cleveland.

*Capsule judgement:  Bill Wade's INLET DANCE COMPANY uses dance to educate
and enlighten.  His proficient and creative dancers, and collaborative
approach to performance, makes it one of the most exciting of Cleveland's
dance companies.*

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