April 28-May 4, 2005

artpicks

Arrivals Gate

by Deni Kasrel

dance

With a plethora of schools offering degrees in dance, a lively performance scene plus a relatively reasonable cost of living compared to other major cities (yes, that's you, New York) Philly's become a magnet for dancers. Even so, new artists may find it challenging to break into the local dance community, which is somewhat clique-ish in nature.

Enter Tania Isaac, herself a dance immigrant here, who came up with the idea for Destination PHL, a program comprised completely of movement artist transplants to the city. "The dance community is very supportive once they know you and know your work, but that first stage can be difficult," says Isaac. "I figure if there's a place where you can show your work and invite people to come in and make it a little bit of an event, then that's one step further in having a relationship with the people in the community."

The Destination PHL lineup features a varied slate to include Marianela Boan (originally from Cuba), Kun-Yang Lin (Taiwan), Lisa Kraus (New York) and Ashley Lecille Suttlar (Virginia). Isaac, the show's curator, who will also lead a post-show discussion, says that she chose these particular people after meeting them personally "and being interested not just in their work, but also in their personalities — they're all pretty quirky, and I thought that would be interesting in terms of the kind of work they would make."

Boan, who operates in an expressive style known as "contaminated dance," premieres her new company BoanDanz performing "Fluid," a celebration of the club scene as a place where young people can find social and cultural togetherness. Kraus calls upon her abstract improv roots for "Shift," a duet with Christina Zani; Suttlar and six other dancers delve into mysticism and spirituality with "Beyond the Design," while Lin combines elements of postmodern dance, tai chi and martial arts in "Traces of Brush."

"It's related to calligraphy," Lin says of his piece. "I asked the dancers to explore the concept of to how to use your body like a brush." Lin's company has performed in Philadelphia a couple of times before, most recently on a bill with Dancefusion at the Annenberg Center, and he's excited to be part of Destination PHL's multiartist showcase, saying, "It's a great way to introduce your work to a new audience, because each choreographer brings their own crowd."

Destination PHL, Fri.-Sat., April 29-30, 8 p.m., $20, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914.