Philadanco

by Lewis Whittington

dance

Philadanco's spring bill at the Perelman Theater is called "People's Choice," with ballets selected by company founder and artistic director Joan Myers Brown based on audience requests. Brown spoke by phone from her studios in West Philadelphia last week about 'Danco's repertory faves. Her troupe of 16 dancers was about fly to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands for concerts at Reichhold Center. "After 35 years it's a merry-go-round. There are only so many places that are really dancer-friendly when you get there," she says.

"We fly out tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock. The men are in New York now with George Faison, the choreographer for "Suite Otis." He's opened up a new space in Harlem the Firehouse performing arts theater. He's adding a new section to "Dock of the Bay." We'll be doing that again. Everybody loves that ballet."

Brown is also getting ready for a company milestone. "We’re going into my 35th and it’s very heavy with new work. I didn’t want to put a lot into the spring program, financially, before we kick off the new stuff." Besides, she says, "I went back to all of the pieces and I kept hearing from audiences, "Why don’t you do this one again?’"

Brown adds, "It’s going to be a hard program for the dancers. These are all full-company pieces, so nobody gets to huff and puff."

Works include "Pretty is Skin Deep, Ugly to the Bone" by Talley Beatty, which features lush sections of sensuous moves (not to mention the swirl of flowing fabric on the women) set to a montage of popular songs, including a fiery torch song solo to "Good Morning Heartache." "It is our signature piece. It’s long, but fast. Four different girls are doing the ladder dance." And there’s "Exotica" by Ronald K. Brown, which deconstructs stereotypes by using them. "They love Ron Brown," she says.

"Enemy Behind the Gates," by Christopher L. Huggins, premiered at the Painted Bride two days before 9/11. Brown recalls, "I felt I had a hit on my hands. It's about the invisible enemies among us. I asked Christopher, "How did you know?'" Huggins' work builds to a frenetically menacing finale. Brown observed that the strength of the piece was immediate: "When I got new dancers, things didn't change with "Enemy" and that lets you know that a piece solid."

Even though Brown has been critical of attendance in Philadelphia for Philadanco when they routinely sell out everywhere else, she admitted, "People in Philly are very excited by what we do, even sometimes when it's not good." No worries this time.

Philadanco, Thu.-Fri., April 1-2, 7:30 p.m., Sat., April 3, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., $28-$38, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.

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