Music and Dance Reviews : Iranian Saba Company at Royce Hall

With their rhythmic vivacity, gestural finesse and virtuosic use of upper and lower torso, the folk and court dances of Iran offer abundant rewards to even uninitiated viewers. Based in Woodland Hills, Saba Dance Company provided a vibrant survey of Iranian traditions Sunday at Royce Hall, UCLA.

The Iranian-American community obviously loves this company but, for an outsider, problems consistently intrude: Long waits between dance suites, for example. Bright costumes that look peculiar under color-saturated light. Lots of talk in Farsi, but few translations. A flash photographer roaming the aisles and even shooting from the center of the first row.

Above all, questions of intent and taste surround artistic director, choreographer and lead dancer Mohammad Khordadian. At worst, in “Persian Miniature,” when dancers pose inside a picture frame and emerge for anemic solos, kitsch looms large and only talent is miniature. Moreover, the Slavic squat kicks, knee drops and bravura solos of the Azerbaijan suite push the company men beyond their capabilities.

Happily, such lapses prove outpointed by the evening’s highlights--the spectacular “Bandari” for full company and, especially, the women’s grace and speed in such selections as “Ghasem Abadi,” a dance celebrating (and stylizing) physical labor right down to the gesture of wiping one’s brow. Kate Rosloff gives the central hip-thrusting solo a lusty bravado.

Shirin Kiani conveys both love of dancing and great elegance in her “Miniature” duties. Like Khordadian, Sahar Azari appears prominently a number of times but never more effectively than in the “Runamah” duet with him: a festival of rippling shoulders and joyous rhythmic interplay.

The company also boasts a number of accomplished musicians plus singers galore: Gloria Rohani, Faramarz Mahjob, Salahedin Takesh, Samad Rahmanian and Johnny Kordestani--the last two memorable for their idiosyncratic dance styles that seem (to a non-Iranian, anyway) the ultimate statement of dynamic physical freedom.