DANCE REVIEW : San Francisco Company at CalArts

Tracy Rhodes’ remarkable “Requiem,” a dance begun at CalArts, was performed in its completed version on a program by the Della Davidson Company--of which Rhodes is now a member--Thursday evening on the Valencia campus. In the years since 1983, choreographer Rhodes has seen “Requiem” evolve into a tribute to a lover dead of AIDS.

The San Francisco-based dance troupe also revealed that, at its center, Davidson’s choreography respects and glories in natural movement, a fact which redeems her dances from their structural flaws.

She opened the evening with “The Good Girls Meet Amelia,” a work-in-progress intended to be shown against a narrative film about the pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart.

Since the film was not shown, viewers could appreciate the inventive ways Davidson evokes mechanically assisted flight, finding analogues in human motion for the torque of propellers and the sweep of wings.

Three men and three women create the aeronautical landscape, merging emotion and aerodynamic action, throwing in the occasional onomatopoeic syllable, assisted by Bruce Darby’s sound score. “Amelia” is serious play with dramatic purpose; it ends with the Earhart figure open-mouthed in a silent scream.

“Nadine and the Pleasure Company” re-creates a wild party in movement and narration; the trouble is that spectators at an orgy feel a bit left out, and all the arch commentary doesn’t connect the audience with the Byzantine events of the tale.

Central to the evening was Rhodes’ simple catalogue of the provenance of his clothing, all gifts or inheritance from his lover, who died in 1988.

Removing items one by one, Rhodes used sneakers, socks, jeans and sweater to create on the floor the figure of his absent friend, and then performed, in strong overhead light, the stark, gestural “Requiem,” to music by Faure.

The tall blond dancer moves fluently; his dedication and concentration are absolute, and his understanding of how to tell a story impeccable. The program was repeated Friday evening.