Dance Making Strides in S.D.

The city’s lively arts scene has shaken its backwater reputation and turned in some fine performances over the past few years. Local theaters have sent shows to Broadway. Internationally known actors, musicians, singers and conductors are regularly drawn to perform with San Diego groups.

But dance, traditionally the stepsister of San Diego arts, has not kept pace with the rest of the family.

The genre, however, between new blood and the old guard, is making gains.

Malashock Dance and Company, the new kid on the block, is a chamber-sized, modern dance group--the brainchild of former Twyla Tharp hotshot John Malashock. It has made giant strides since its official debut in 1988.

This year, the company went to Los Angeles and San Francisco, besides performances on its home turf. And Malashock’s emotionally charged, no-holds-barred choreographic style received rave reviews on all fronts. Next season should bring even wider recognition.

“I foresee an increase in touring, but our plans for New York exposure may have to wait another year,” said Malashock. “We had a budget of $85,000 this year, and I can’t even afford to stay at our present level if we don’t increase that this year. We have a pretty even mix of earned income, private donations and public money, but, if the city funds dry up, it can be a disaster for a small company.”

But that fiscal uncertainty isn’t stopping Malashock from gearing up for expansion.

“We’re planning a fall and spring season and considering larger venues here,” he said. “We’ll keep the company at about six or seven dancers, with at least two men (including Malashock). We don’t want to get too large, or become a million-dollar organization right away. That’s unrealistic.”

Another contender and the longest-running hit on the modern dance scene is Three’s Company.

The 16-year-old troupe has a strong following in San Diego and is building audiences in the Bay Area and several Western cities. Summer workshops and performances in Europe have also helped its visibility.

Three’s Company was the first local company to take on the toughest test of a dance troupe’s mettle--a New York debut--and was well received by audiences and critics. Two dance videos made in conjunction with KPBS also have enhanced the company’s national image, and a third is in progress.

This year, with a newly renovated studio at its disposal, the troupe is banking on more low-tech performances on the home front in addition to its annual run at the Mandell Weiss Center, and more touring close to home.

“We probably won’t be able to afford a New York trip for at least another year,” said artistic director Jean Isaacs. “Everybody would like to do more touring, but these are really bad times. Probably all of us in the arts will be in holding patterns.”

Nevertheless, the company intends to keep a small nucleus of dancers on salary for a 20-week season (as it did last year). Its artistic focus remains zeroed in on the work of Isaacs and Nancy McCaleb, a course it has followed for several seasons.

In a more classical vein, California Ballet, the granddaddy of San Diego-based dance companies, has the distinction of being the most popular purveyor of “The Nutcracker” in this neck of the woods, although it rarely attracts serious attention for its repertory concerts. Its other claim to fame is home-grown dancer Denise Dabrowski, a virtuoso ballerina who makes frequent appearances with Three’s Company as well.

The 20-year-old ballet company has the strongest ties with the Soviet Union of any local troupe--and perhaps any dance group in the country. Under Maxine Mahon’s direction, the California Ballet broke new ground in 1986 by snaring a Soviet danseur (Stanislav Issaev) for a guest spot in its own ranks, and the parade of Soviet dancers has never ceased.

And now, Mahon is in Leningrad for a teaching workshop, and a cultural exchange plan with the Soviets (which will bring a Soviet dancer to San Diego this fall) is still intact. San Diego-trained Calvin Kitten, who just completed his exchange year with the Leningrad troupe, will be back with California Ballet when the season opens in September.

California Ballet will offer a three-concert season this year, compared to four last year, and will continue to import guest artists, largely because of its shortage of male dancers.

The American Ballet Ensemble, led by former Balanchine ballerina Lynda Yourth, is the other ballet company based in San Diego.

ABE performs in several San Diego venues, and frequently takes its productions to Tijuana and Mexicali. The dancers average 15 to 16 years of age, but are generally well-trained. This year, three of them (Aura Dixon, Claire Taber, and Christopher MacDougell) took part in international competition.

“We’re constantly expanding,” said Yourth. “We’re still doing two major concerts here, but we’ll be doing quite a lot of touring. We think our home-grown dancers are as good as most of the ones we can bring in, but we’ll use guests when we need them next season.”

Jazz Unlimited got the jump on jazz dance years ago, and it remains the only serious choice for contemporary jazz, pop, and funk-oriented audiences. The company is still seeking the right balance between its recent focus on softer, modern-based movement and the stereotypically high-voltage jazz that has been its calling card for years.

The troupe continues to test the waters, however, with director Patricia Rincon beginning to tap her Mexican heritage for more dramatic story-based dances. Plans for collaborations with visual artists and musicians are also on the drawing board.

Funding limitations will keep Jazz Unlimited close to home this year for a three-concert season. But a teaching-performing liaison in Europe has led to a Jazz Unlimited-offspring, Rincon Dance Company, and that will tour in Switzerland.

“I have a company in Europe that performs in the summer,” said Rincon. “They’re dancers I trained there over the years, and if it flies, I’ll be able to feed in my own dancers there. Right now, I’m using it as an experimental company. I can set avant-garde pieces, or anything I want there. I’m not labeled as we are here.”

The local community also abounds with independent artists who create and perform in low-tech environments, often with support from the San Diego Area Dance Alliance, an organization dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of local dance.

The alliance has not lived up to its potential, but it has contributed significantly to the well-being of the dance community by providing limited financial support, performing space, and other services. Ellen Segal, Laurie Lowery and Judith Sharp are some of the beneficiaries of alliance grants.

University-based dance is alive but not completely well. United States International University’s International Ballet survived the university’s close call with bankruptcy, but as Steven Wistrich, director of the ballet program, noted:

“We still don’t know whether we’ll get any scholarships for next year, and without them, we may lose some of our students. That would affect the quality. We have to work with the people who are here, and we’re not able to apply for any public funding. But we’re negotiating with the new Poway Arts Center for performing dates in the fall and spring, and we plan to perform in Tijuana in the winter.”

San Diego State University has been a minor player on the concert scene for years, although it has a good track record for feeding dancers into the community. Patricia Sandback of the SDSU dance faculty said the department should make strides in the coming year, now that it has a degree program in dance to attract serious students.

UC San Diego and Palomar College showcase student dancers and faculty work regularly, and both institutions expect to continue performing at the same rate.

For ethnic dance, San Diego is home to a variety of troupes, most of which operate on the fringe of the dance community. Samahan Dance Company and the Pasacat troupe--both specialists in Philippine dance forms--are the most prominent.