Dance & Music Reviews : Reichlin Troupe at Brand Art Center

An obliging curator and an open-minded dance company director can sometimes strike a bargain that benefits both--which is exactly what happened Sunday with the Brand Library Art Center and Louise Reichlin & Dancers.

For the performing artists, who occupied a space hung with paintings and boasting an ever-bright skylight, it was indeed a sacrifice of the theatrical trappings that would deepen the featured work’s values.

But at the same time one could not discount their chance to proselytize an overflow audience finding its way here from the surrounding park.

And “Urban and Tribal Dances” certainly deserves all the audiences it can get. What’s more, Linda Borough’s costume design and the equally imaginative (but uncredited) makeup qualify in their own right for gallery exhibition.

Reichlin’s ambitious, ever-engaging, six-part suite delivers exactly what its title promises. Following once again her trademark aesthetic, she opts for metaphor, transferring what we think of as tribal behavior to the contemporary urban scene.

Three somber women, who could be either assuming the hauteur of fashion plates or enacting jungle rituals, go through a series of stylized formalities--all angular lines and terse, halting movement punctuated with little shudders. Their faces are painted white and appliqued with fanciful designs. They wear long gloves and whimsical cocktail hats.

Later, a bride, with one triangular black eyebrow, and her groom impersonate Marcel Marceau characters--again in economic ritual maneuvers of beguiling wit--amid a party of men in black derbies. At one point, a Wili-like figure, shrouded from top to toe in tulle, bourrees barefoot and bent-kneed, tribal style.

Elsewhere, a battle scene with clearly drawn military hierarchy features multiple actions, an Attila the Hun helmet seen here and Vietnam fatigues there. A sound collage contains everything from waltz fragments to high-pitched ululations.

Before a triumphant finale, a world and its history have passed before our eyes, thanks to Louise Reichlin.