DANCE / EILEEN SONDAK : Troupe Puts All Its Eggs in 1 Anniversary Basket

Three’s Company and Dancers will ring in the new year with a weekend of concerts commemorating 15 consecutive years of modern dance making in San Diego. And, as artistic director Jean Isaacs noted in a break from rehearsals, survival isn’t the only thing the troupe is celebrating this season.

“I think we’re getting a little steam going now. We’ve made some changes and we’ve really honed our vision of the company. We went to San Francisco last year and got a great reception, great reviews, and now we’re getting more attention here,” Isaacs said. “We have a few new men now, and the women are really strong. We really look like a company .

“The biggest news is that we’re going to New York for the first time this year,” she said. “We’re only doing one major concert in San Diego this season, but we’re putting all our eggs in one basket. All the music is original, and we’ll have the San Diego Men’s Chorus performing with us for the first time--all 70 of them.”

The performances, scheduled for Jan. 5-8 at UC San Diego’s Mandell Weiss Theater, will feature three premieres. The centerpiece of the program is Isaacs’ darkly dramatic “Wall,” a complex work steeped in metaphor, propelled by a Miles Anderson score, sung by the men’s chorus and danced by an ensemble of 10. “Wall” will make unusual use of the state-of-the-art theater, opening the stage area as never before for a dance event and wrapping the huge chorus around the audience.

Choral director Gary Holt and Isaacs crossed paths some time ago while working on other projects, but this is their maiden effort together. “I knew I wanted choral music for ‘Wall,’ ” Isaacs said. “Even though this is a very modern piece, the music is medieval.”

Nancy McCaleb, the most active choreographic voice in the company these days, designed another strangely surrealistic work with sculptor Andrea Bjeldanes and composer Anderson for the season opener. Titled “Bunga Pakma” (named for a flower that grows in Southeast Asia), the dance “shows how I was affected by Cambodia.” McCaleb describes her new piece as “a dream exorcism of the spoilers of war,” and promises, “It’s very different from my others.”

Also premiering on this four-concert series is “First Snow,” a trio by Betzi Roe, developed with sonic input from composer Will Parsons.

McCaleb’s “Swamp,” which made its debut last year, and Isaacs’ “Untitled Duet” are the only retreads on this anniversary program, and both of those have been gussied up for the occasion. Composer Michael S. Roth contributed a new score for the quirky twosome, and, as McCaleb noted, “I’ve re-recorded the text for ‘Swamp,’ so that’s going to be different, too.”

Not since Isadora Duncan introduced her gospel of modern dance to the Russians in the early 1920s has an American choreographer done a residency in the Soviet Union--not until Three’s Company’s Betzi Roe made her recent sojourn, that is.

Roe made the ground-breaking, three-week trek to Russia, by invitation of the Soviet government, as the U. S. cultural specialist to the Soviet Union. She taught aspiring choreographers at the prestigious Leningrad Conservatory and performed to standing ovations from a packed 800-seat house during her visit.

“It was fabulous,” she said. “I never thought I could make such an impact, but they were so hungry to learn the modern dance vocabulary, they’re still reeling.

“Even though dance is the best-loved art form in Russia, modern dance is practically non-existent. And their choreographic training never includes starting a dance from scratch,” Roe said. “They just learn mime, gesture and the material they need so they can set a work like ‘Giselle’ from top to bottom. It’s never dance for dance’s sake. What they consider modern is bad Bejart story ballets.

“There are no women choreographers in the Soviet Union,” she said, “so for me to dance works all created by women was really revolutionary.”

What next for the good-will ambassador of modern dance?

“I need to go back,” she said. “I want to talk about a choreographic exchange and have these kids creating out of their own heads. I’m going to make sure I get a grant to do a follow-up study.”

Roe acknowledged that “they don’t usually fund twice in a row,” but that hasn’t dimmed her hopes.

“I got a glowing, glowing report from the U. S. government, and we started a bridge that we never had before,” she said. “I’ll find a way to get back there.”

DANCE STEPS: The sexy Brazilian import “Oba Oba” has found its way to the San Diego Civic Theatre, where it will remain through Sunday. The Vegas-style spectacle flaunts an exotic mix of dance styles from Brazil’s black, Portuguese and Indian cultures--danced by a supercharged but scantily clad cast (50 in all, including the singers). . . . It’s not too early for dance teachers to be planning for next summer. The California State Summer School for the Arts is recruiting faculty from the entire spectrum of arts disciplines, including dance. This summer session will be held on the Valencia campus July 8 through Aug. 5, offering 400 gifted high school students intensive multidisciplinary training. Send resume and references to Faculty Selection Committee, CSSA, 2012 H St., Suite 201, Sacramento, Calif. 95814, by Feb. 3.