DANCE / EILEEN SONDAK : Germani Hopes Concert Will End Identity Crisis

Although Al Germani Dance Company has made the rounds of low-tech venues over the past year, it has yet to make an official debut on the concert scene. That will change when the San Diego-based troupe performs its “Premiere Concert” at Westminster Church tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m.

Germani, who described the company as a “postmodern contemporary jazz dance troupe,” said he founded the group as a proving ground for his own choreographic voice. The transplanted Easterner, with seven years of experience teaching, dancing and choreographing in San Diego, said his approach to dance making emphasizes “the development of expressionistic choreography which reflects as well as affects the social conscience of its viewing audience.”

Sound pretentious? Perhaps, but, as Germani noted, his message is emotional, not political.

“My goal is to make people experience feelings, “ he said. “The dances don’t necessarily tell a literal story. I just want the audience to put their own meaning on what they see.”

This pair of concerts will feature five dances--some still termed works in progress--and an all-female cast, because, as its creator noted, “it’s a tough town to get men.”

Germani hopes this coming-out concert will solve his “identity crisis” in San Diego. “Since I teach jazz, people expect my work to look like commercial jazz,” he said. “But it’s really semi-modern--everything after the masters.”

“You can’t take eight ballets out of 50 and expect to see everything,” Eliot Feld acknowledged by phone from his New York studio. “But on this visit to San Diego, we’re bringing a sampling that is really representative of the body of my work.”

The dances will speak for themselves beginning tonight, when the Feld Ballet kicks off a two-weekend residency that includes four public concerts and as many lecture demonstrations for local schoolchildren, all at Symphony Hall. Feld fans will have a field day with repertory works culled from two decades of dance making by the internationally acclaimed choreographer.

“All the pieces, with the exception of one (Feld’s jaunty crowd pleaser, ‘The Jig Is Up’) are new to San Diego,” he said. “Two are this year’s.”

Critics have observed changes in Feld’s oeuvre in recent years, most notably a more balletic slant, but the busy iconoclast dismisses questions about the evolutionary development of his dances.

“I don’t look at an overview of what I’ve done. I’m only concerned about what interests me now--the next work. I feel my juices getting going to start something new as soon as I get back.”

Expect to see “The Consort,” a dance of manners that harks back to 1970; “Petipa Notwithstanding,” Feld’s fusion of modern and Petipa-style classical ballet, and the recent “Love Song Waltzes,” which traces the bumpy road of romantic love through complex motional patterns juxtaposed against a Brahms score.

Feld’s marathon 10-day sojourn in San Diego is unprecedented for an imported dance troupe. But Suzanne Townsend of San Diego Performances says it’s only the beginning.

“Our vision of a presenter goes beyond being an intermediary to book attractions,” she said. “These artists are valuable resources to the community, and we want to facilitate their interaction with the public as much as possible--with student performances and master classes.

“We can’t do it with every company, but it’s our intention to have a minimum of two companies a year for extended residencies,” she said. “And we’d eventually like to commission works to be performed here, like Orange County did with (American Ballet Theatre’s) ‘Swan Lake.’ It’s all part of our artistic mission for this community.”

Jazz Unlimited’s return to Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla this weekend will give dance enthusiasts another choice for its already-burgeoning dance card. The San Diego-based jazz ensemble will feature something old and something new on the program when it dances its two-concert series tonight and tomorrow night.

“We’re doing two premieres and one adaptation as part of our six-piece program,” director Patricia Rincon said. “All of us (Jazz Unlimited veterans) are getting up there in age, so we have added a young man, Terry Lindley, to the ranks. He’s never worked on a concert stage and his technique is not that developed, but he’s a natural. Today, most of the jazz dancers think L.A. punk is all there is to jazz dance. They’re only trained in the trendy styles, but our background is more general.”

That’s why eclectic Kelley Grant, who chalked up a bevy of credits on Broadway and in the modern dance arena, is still a hot number at Jazz Unlimited after eight years in the fold.

“It’s so nice to have a mature dancer with savvy on stage,” Rincon said. “And Kelley is so versatile.”

Local dance buffs will see this unique combination of old and new when Grant and Lindley team up for the debut of a duet by Margaret Marshall. Barry Bernal, fresh from his appearance at the Academy Awards show, will hog the limelight twice this weekend, once as lead dancer in “Za Za” and again for “Pictures Without Words.”

North County dancers will get into the act this weekend as well. The Palomar College Dance Ensemble is due to perform four concerts at the college between Friday and Sunday. As usual, Palomar will present a potpourri of styles for its spring concert, from ballet to tap and show dance. Featured on this program is an original modern dance based on the plight of the homeless.