Dance Review : Benitez Dancers

Flaring nostrils, creased brows and heel-stamping drama may be enough for other Spanish dancers--not Maria Benitez.

When she and her chamber-sized company began a three-night stint Wednesday at the Japan America Theatre, they banished any notions of cliche. To be sure their show had the de rigueur intensity and allure--a cantaor cried his song of anguish, two guitarists strummed a mighty roar and the dancers boasted commanding personalities.

But none of what they did was 2-dimensional. For the art of the dance as defined by Benitez involves utmost subtlety--the kind that comes from the full employment of the body, not just authoritative carriage, picturesque profiles and rhythmic vigor.

Her hands, for instance, do not simply punctuate the air overhead, they swivel from the wrist in stunning, voluptuous rotations. Nor are any movements isolated; instead there is a fluid ever-evolving line. And her locomotion is so smooth that she seems to glide cross-stage while executing heel-work of incremental variety.

Although Benitez’s company falls into a traditional category, her dances are somewhat stylized. Low lights and dim spots on the four women and one man projected a mysteriously somber opening scene. During a solo the others become a ghostly chorus. In the final number, a flamenco suite, she abandons feminine dress in favor of high-waisted black pants.

A zarzuela excerpt (taped music by Albeniz) rounded out a program high in virtuosity.