DANCE REVIEW : Martinez Retrospective a Blend of Ballet, Modern

You never know whether Francisco Martinez’s women will dance barefoot, in soft slippers or in toe shoes, but you can count on his choreography being a refined response to the unusual scores he usually chooses.

The first half of a four-part series, over the weekend at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, collected mood pieces from the mid-’70s through the late-’80s by this eclectic Mexican-born, locally based choreographer.

Both “Birth Shadows” (Saturday) and “Flowers” (Sunday) showcased Martinez’s contemporary classicism, with intriguing partnering experiments emerging from academic ballet conventions, and artful cavalier Michael Meyer developing an unusually intense relationship with his ballerinas.

“Birth Shadows” (1977, music by Varese) found Meyer and Veronica Apodaca coolly moving from flowing balleticisms into hand-spasms and other sharp-edged modernisms--plus executing plenty of floor gymnastics as well. The large-scale suite “Flowers” (1989, music by Brahms) deployed six women and two men in three contrasting formal ensembles, with a demanding adagio for Meyer and the statuesque Judy Sandweiss just before the finale.

A world away, but equally persuasive, Martinez’s “Sweet Dreams” (1979) chose ballads sung by Patsy Cline to accompany a study of loss and loneliness shared by dancers Nancy Lanier, Frances Zapella and Phaedra Jarrett. Presented Saturday, it received a far more committed realization than “Places,” (1987) Martinez’s ultimate statement of loss, danced a day later.

However, even in this fitful, slack performance, “Places” displayed the sensitive use of Mendelssohn, the inventive spatial values and the deeply emotional expression of its theme that make it perhaps Martinez’s most compelling work.

Unfortunately, some of Martinez’s early pieces displayed puzzling choices and lapses in these revivals. “Triad” (Saturday), for instance, had no real ending, though this 1975 trio to music by Rawsthorne provided Zapella with an opportunity for a powerfully motivated performance.

Danced the same afternoon, “Chandra” (1979) featured a string of stylish sequencing ploys to music by Ravel but always looked grounded somehow--as if it really belonged on pointe. Veronica Caudillo appeared none too comfortable in the solo and the partnership between Martinez and Jarrett never caught fire.

Happily, the modern wing of Martinez’s company proved far more assured in “Variables” (1989) on Sunday, dancing to Milhaud elegantly, playfully, and with a delight in clever changes of speed, level, direction and impetus that can make his best choreography seem a creative adventure for anyone in it or watching it.

The Martinez retrospective concludes with performances Saturday and Sunday afternoon.