DANCE REVIEW : Dean of Post-Modern Gains Scant Notice in Sleek Preview

Whoever heard of David Gordon?

Not many San Diego dance buffs, judging from the sparse audience on hand Friday night for the local debut of Gordon’s Pick Up Co.

More’s the pity, since this doyen of post-modern dance and his sleek New York-based ensemble offered a strikingly free-flowing sneak preview of “United States,” a huge patchwork quilt of a piece scheduled to be premiered at Kennedy Center in September. And, unlike most imported dance works, this evening-long mix of movement, words and music, had ties to San Diego.

Gordon’s “United States” is geographically lopsided--only a handful of selected states provided the impetus for the segment showcased at Mandeville Auditorium Friday and Saturday night. But this unique multimedia construction, which will remain a work-in-progress for the next few months, has already found its emotional balance and a crystal-clear sense of dance logic.

By virtue of local sponsorship (the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts was one of 27 commissioning presenters nationwide), “United States” drew some inspiration from the city of San Diego. Music by Harry Partch, for example, was overlaid during a particularly poignant section on life in Los Angeles. However, those fleeting allusions are likely to be enlarged after Gordon soaks up the essence of San Diego.

Gordon, the most enduring trailblazer in post-modern dance, has an uncanny sense of musicality, even when the “music” is the monotonous drone of a pedant pontificating on the behavior of pigeons or the rambling storytelling technique of a Colorado ranch hand.

Some of Gordon’s fluid movement motifs are ironically juxtaposed against somber textual material. Others take their cues from movie sound tracks or even the repetitious rhythms of a weather report.

Not surprisingly, this latest work reaffirms beliefs formulated by Gordon and other rebel dance makers who turned dance on its ear back in the ‘60s, namely the notion that random movement can indeed be labeled dance and that behavioral expressions can constitute choreography.

Striking icons abound in “United States,” but the dance never slows long enough to dwell on them. It just unfurls in a seamless flow of fast-moving images, like a piece of giant tumbleweed spilling across the stage.

In one playful segment, Gordon gets into the act, wrapping himself around a huge banner while the University of Nebraska’s marching band sets the frantic pace. Later, the chunky but still wonderfully lithe dancer does a comic turn with his partner, warding off a thunderstorm with an open umbrella.

Everything is grist for Gordon’s mill, and he usually makes the most of his found material.

In a section on Iowa, the voice-over reminds us that “saying a place is flat is a way of making it simpler than it is.” Naturally, the choreographer makes merry with that concept in pure dance terms.

Though parody is never far from the surface of the dance, Gordon’s lexicon is highly lyrical and his phrasing cleverly devious. To the throaty strains of “I’m Always Drunk in San Francisco,” the dancers are loose-limbed and laid back, but the dance is deliciously complex and affecting.

Valda Setterfield (Gordon’s wife) is a striking presence in every appearance with her shock of snow white hair. But she’s positively irresistible in the cheeky Judy Garland spoof that takes witty pot shots at the pretensions of ballet as well.

Mozart goes post-modern in a wildly ebullient ensemble section danced at breakneck speed. There is an easy amplitude of movement that becomes infectious as the company breezes through this lively little romp. Another part of the work propels the graceful dancers in slow motion, as if they were making their way under water.

The finale on New England is brilliantly transposed against an excerpt from Robert Frost. Near the end of the taped interview, the poet explains, “I’m clarifying something for myself in verse.” Change that to dance, and you know what this inventive choreographer is all about.