MUSIC REVIEWS : UCLA ‘COURTLY ARTS’

Call it a noble experiment. “An Evening of Courtly Arts” at UCLA featured spotty performances of court dance in splendid settings as audiences moved from site to site in the Kerckhoff Hall area.

Lovingly reconstructed environments sustained the illusion of courtly elegance and hospitality. Lanterns lit the winding approach to a Japanese Shinto shrine bounded by red lacquer railings and overhung by spreading sycamore branches. Hostesses circulated through a Javanese palace pavilion offering tea and pastry. Boughs of greenery wound the banister of an Italian Renaissance ballroom decked with seasonal flowers.

Gagaku (Japanese) and gamelan (Javanese) orchestras and Renaissance recorder and flute provided consistently fine music and accompaniments.

Unfortunately, dance values were uneven in every section. A beautifully concentrated, contemplative Japanese “Engiraku” quartet followed a tentative “Ran-Ryo-O” solo for a warrior who trampled the train of his costume.

A meticulously performed Javanese duet of conflict and courtship followed an effort by four dancers who fell far short of the intricate style and symbolism of the celebrated “Srimpi.”

The sprightly, elegant dances of the Italian Renaissance were well performed, but overdrawn dramatic inflections intruded. Moreover, the personal interplay and relative informality of these social dances of 14th-Century Italian gentry stretched the concept of ceremonial court dance a bit thin.

Conceived and produced by Judy Mitoma in conjunction with the UCLA departments of dance and music, the “Courtly Arts” experiment seems well worth repeating--though perhaps not as a proving ground for student dancers in principal roles.