Philadanco

by Janet Anderson

Philadanco is coming up on its 35th birthday and has never looked younger, stronger and more buoyant than right now. For its Kimmel Center spring program, Danco presented an evening of old favorites that ranged over its whole performing life from the 1970s to right now. Each one of the dances was a showstopper in and of itself, and each got a showstopper performance from the seemingly inexhaustible ensemble.

George Faison's "Suite Otis" from the 1970s is sweet indeed, with marvelous Otis Redding music ("(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and more) and movement that is big, open and juicy. The piece looks as good today as ever with wonderful brief characterizations by the dancers throughout. The whole ensemble was outstanding, but the men were utterly superb. This was followed by Talley Beatty's "Pretty is Skin Deep, Ugly to the Bone," which brought the audience further into the 1970s and to jazz-based movement set to the music of Earth, Wind and Fire, Quincy Jones and Natalie Cole. Beatty mixes up his jazz with street moves, creating jagged body lines and abrupt weight shifts. The guys moved across the stage punching their arms forward, while simultaneously pulling their torsos backward -- sounds weird, but looked great. Roxanne Lyst, a gorgeous dancer, performed a complicated pas de deux with a ladder. "Pretty" is a showcase number and it did its job well, sending the Danco dancers into a frenzy of whip-fast moves, never faltering for a minute (although sprinkling sweat across the stage that made rainbows in the spotlights).

After intermission, when everyone, including the audience, had a chance to catch their breath, the show resumed. Now Danco moved into more current work with "Exotica" by Ronald K. Brown, a very to-this-minute choreographer who merges African moves and music seamlessly into current postmodern dance vocabulary. There is the merest suggestion of story in this dance, with ritualistic parades and performers seeming to scoop up water out of the spotlight. It's a fine piece, but has a saggy middle and was the least interesting of the dances. But the program ended spectacularly with Christopher Huggins' 2002 galvanizing "Enemy Behind the Gates." Driven by Steve Reich's pounding minimalist score, the dancers executed pure postmodern movement that looked like military maneuvers. It was hectic, electric and the perfect way to end a program, with everyone on their feet shouting approval.

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