DANCE REVIEW : Lo-Tec’s Diverse Bill Had Ups and Downs, but Blended Well

To paraphrase an adage, Lo-Tecs make strange bedfellows.

Last weekend, Three’s Company paired Los Angeles-based Tina Gerstler and former Bill T. Jones/Arne Zane dancer Woodie McGriff (now on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin) for a program of modern dance at the troupe’s Hillcrest studio. And, despite the diversity of dance motifs and thematic content, the mixed bill was surprisingly effective.

McGriff worked alone, premiering a new introspective solo and reprising a piece introduced at last year’s Lo-Tec. Gerstler brought her six-member troupe along for her local choreographic debut and performed excerpts from a full-length work.

McGriff, a workshop teacher for Three’s Company this summer, opened the program with a pair of solos of his own design. His newest work, “Contemplation,” found the dancer deep in thought--obviously reflecting on matters of life and death--as the mournful strains of a Vivaldi score began to engulf him.

Although the dance had its moments of emotional energy and explosive power, and the charismatic dancer made a commanding presence, it appears from this attempt that McGriff is still trying to find his choreographic voice.

The frenzied physicality and quirky acrobatics of “Looking Glass” showed McGriff to far better advantage. In this revival, set to a lively musical accompaniment, McGriff was confident as a choreographer and dazzling as a dancer.

Gerstler, a former member of the Mary Jane Eisenberg Dance Company, favors the Louis Falco-Jose Limon brand of modern movement and a decidedly dramatic thrust. And she put all these elements into play for “The Luna Series,” a collection of solos, duets and ensemble dances that had their genesis in astronomical phenomena.

Only five of the 12 sections that make up the series were shown on last weekend’s program, and the interchangeable parts were performed out of sequence. But it was evident that Gerstler was not just moonstruck when she created the suite of dances.

Although titles such as “Blackhole,” “Eclipse” and “Light Year” gave no hint of the desperate human underpinnings, the dances were as much about the gravitational pull of relationships as they were about planetary bodies. And Gerstler made strong connections between the two.

“Blackhole,” billed as a world premiere, sent Cynthia Hord and Grace Pumphrey spiraling into an orbit of mutual destruction. By far the most violent work on the program, this “Blackhole” had its emotional equivalent in the danger and emptiness of a bad relationship.

Nevertheless, with a jarring male voice repeating the question, “Am I getting through to you?” and two female dancers interpreting the moves, the actual message was ambiguous.

Perhaps that was part of Gerstler’s intent. In any case, with Hord and Pumphrey (the strongest dancers in the troupe) as its protagonists, “Blackhole” was an exciting piece of dance drama that needed no textual support to bolster it.

Gerstler went solo for “Nova,” an enigmatic dance that churned its creator into twitchy spasms suggesting a state of disorientation. “Nova” never quite lived up to its name, but it was an effective vehicle for Gerstler.

After a pause, the full company came together for the impulsive “Light Year.” This asymmetrical work got off to an excruciatingly slow start, with Gerstler inching her way across the back of the studio, a study in isolation.

Juxtaposed against that image was some interesting floor work for the five other dancers in the troupe. “Light Year” put the spotlight on Gerstler’s only male (James Kelly) as he thrust himself across the performing space in long, greedy gulps, and hit a high point on a note of celestial calm.

“Nebula,” a trio for Hord, Pumphrey and Kelly, and “Eclipse,” a brisk foursome, brought more exploration of relationships, all loosely tied to the heavenly bodies, giving more reason to wonder why Gerstler, an alumna of the California Ballet, has not performed on her home turf for years. It is to be hoped that the lure of the local summer series will bring her back to town more regularly.

Next week, the Lo-Tec season will close on a familiar note--Three’s Company’s annual workshop performance. Although the cast is student-based (at least 40 in all with strut their stuff during the weekend of performances), the choreography includes works by veterans, such as Patrick Nollet, Jean Isaacs and Kelley Grant.