‘Old Dog’ Is Ready to Trot Out Some New Dance Tricks

In the late 1950s, Ellen Segal performed principal roles with the prestigious Martha Graham Dance Company, and her mentor’s modern dance technique is still the backbone of Segal’s quirky choreography.

But, as the 56-year-old dance maker boasted during a break from rehearsal, “ This old dog is starting to learn new tricks. I decided my work isn’t really rhythmic, so I took lessons from percussionist Will Parsons to get a handle on the batucada rhythms (of Brazil),” she said. “I fell in love with the energetic and sensual qualities of the music and got really stimulated.”

Those intoxicating rhythms of Brazilian ethnic music inspired Segal to integrate a new set of moves and spatial patterns into her dancing. But the complex, 13-section suite, “Brazilian Explosion,” is not just about movement. It features four sections of pure percussive music and three sections of song.

This ambitious work will be the centerpiece of Segal’s latest “Garage Dance” concert, slated for 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Three’s Company’s Hillcrest studio.

“I know it’s risky,” Segal acknowledged, “but I was really very clear about what I wanted to do. I’m going to try new things in this concert. I’m addressing serious themes, and working with live musicians. It was a risk I wanted to take.

“I’ve been a jazz fan all my life--since I was a little girl,” she recalled. “The mixture of jazz and the bossa nova that was popular in the ‘50s is now coming back, and it’s an exciting combination.

“I don’t know whether I’ll be successful with it. You never do until you try. You just keep making work and hoping that the quality and the passion will be strong. That’s what it’s all about.”

This set of “Garage Dance”--the third in the series named for its spawning ground--will showcase some of Segal’s closest collaborators (choreographers Erling Sunde and Patricia Sandback).

But it will also bring some new blood into the fold, most notably percussionist Omar Ernest Moore, whose ethnic drum solo will ignite the “Brazilian Explosion,” and lyric soprano Ellen Lawson.

“I was thinking about maybe changing the title of this concert, but my studio is still in the garage, and I’m still developing dances there,” Segal explained. “This time it’s exciting. I have live music, and Omar’s Brazilian piece is wonderful.”

Segal was timid about recruiting Lawson for the project but, after hearing the singer’s rendition of a Portuguese lullaby last fall, she decided to give it her best shot.

“I didn’t know if she would even consider singing with a dance work, but I just decided, why not? When I told her it was Brazilian music, she was delighted.

“Brazilian Explosion” is only one of six new works to be premiered at Three’s Company’s Studio this weekend. The most serious dance on the program is a tribute to fellow Graham soloist Tim Wengerd--Segal’s kindred spirit--who lost a battle with AIDS last year.

“Tim is with me all the time,” said Segal. “We never worked together at the Graham company. He wasn’t even dancing yet by the time I left, but there’s a certain bond that comes between Graham people. We’re very connected.”

Although Segal’s cockeyed sense of humor has a way of creeping into almost everything she creates, “Timness” is a highly emotional odyssey for the choreographer. And, since Wengerd was a vital part of the San Diego dance scene (he taught summer workshops and gave performances here many times over the years), this elegy may have a similar effect on the audience.

“There’s no fooling around,” Segal pointed out. “I’m dancing this piece, and I’m skinning myself alive to come anywhere near his power. Tim’s dancing knocked us out. You can’t fake that.

“But all my choreography--even the serious stuff--is a little funny or sardonic. When you’re 56, you look at things differently. It’s at least more philosophical.”

Sunde, whose classical dance credits hark back to the renowned Royal Ballet, will contribute the most balletic dance of the evening. Titled “Enigma,” the trio reveals another side of Graham-trained Segal, who joins two dancers many years her junior in the piece.

Like most unaffiliated dance makers, Segal is not a stranger to low-tech environments. But her weekend stint at Three’s Company’s studio is a first for this San Diego-based iconoclast.

“I felt I needed a change of venue, and Three’s Company has just fixed up the studio,” Segal said. “The grant I received from the dance alliance helped make it possible. This concert represents a new adventure for me, and I’m very excited.”