Dance Sampler Kicks Off Summer Lo-Tec Series

This summer, Three’s Company’s lo-tec series will feature a lively assortment of imported modern dancers, local choreographers, and company interns. By chance, all three groups, and an early bellwether of modern movement, will be represented at this weekend’s kickoff concert at the troupe’s Hillcrest studio.

The featured attraction is Lar Lubovitch lead dancer Nancy Colahan, who will perform a pair of solos from modern dance pioneer Jane Dudley’s retrospective concert. For her San Diego lo-tec debut, Colahan will be accompanied by two other New York-based artists--her husband Lonne Moretton, and Lance Westergard, a dancer and choreographer whose career spans 40 years of ballet and modern dance.

“I’m dancing ‘Harmonica Breakdown,’ Jane’s signature piece,” said Colahan in a break from rehearsals earlier this week. “It was choreographed in 1938, but it’s remarkably contemporary in its message. The other solo, ‘Conte Flamenco,’ is a tribute to a Spanish freedom fighter, and it’s very flamenco in feeling. They’re both about strong women.”

The three New Yorkers will share the stage with six local dancers chosen for Three’s Company’s summer internship program. The interns will dance the premiere performance of a work choreographed for them by Moretton during his two-week teaching stint in San Diego.

Also included on this mixed bill, is Jack Moore’s “Three Tangos” (set by Westergard), and a couple of solos designed and danced by San Diego-based Vicki Tolleson (a former Merce Cunningham dancer) and Gail Olsen.

“I feel really fortunate to be part of the summer program,” said Tolleson. “I learned quite a bit from (the visiting artists). They’re very good teachers. When I worked with Cunningham, (the choreography) was more upright and structured. This time, I pushed myself to do something new.”

“It’s been great for us too,” Colahan said. “I don’t mind being on a program with tyros. This is my first time dancing ‘Flamenco,’ and it’s the first time I’ve ever worked in a lo-tec environment. I’m used to big stages, so in that respect, I’m a beginner, too.”

The season opener will begin its two-night run at the studio at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.