DANCE REVIEWS : ISO & the Bobs Go to the ‘Mall’

The philosophy of John Stuart Mill may have hovered over UCLA this weekend. But was the greater good for the greater number really served when ISO, a sextet of dancing zanies, and the Bobs, a Bobby McFerrin-esque vocal foursome, put on a joint show at Royce Hall?

Yes and no. As they have done in the past, the collaborators got locked into a format that somewhat resembled song-and-dance routines. Whereas ISO can be wildly imaginative when freed from the square-rhythm background imposed by the finger-snapping, a cappella Bobs, here the lines were drawn--sound determined sight.

Which proved mostly true in the local premiere of “A Mall Odyssey.” Granted, there were some uncommonly clever touches of whimsy. A Baroque episode transforms Ashley Roland (the seated, semi-nude dorsal view of her) into a cello played by Brian Frette, with the Bachian counterpoint issuing from the Bobs.

Other highlights in this piece included a “2001” fashion show with humor layered onto neo-Bauhaus moving designs, and the deliriously funny impersonations of ninja warriors, courtesy of Frette and Jamey Hampton. Without a single weapon in sight they took the imaginary back-and-forth attacks to a metaphysical plane.

But much of the time the Bobs enforced their uniformly loud white rap with Garrison Keillor-type narratives. However wonderful their satire, the end product seemed not more than a crowd-pleasing, college-circuit act-- a far cry from the breadth of ISO, alone, which can deliver screwball anarchy as well as evocations of the dark and thoughtful.

Traces of these came during the opening half, which featured several oldies performed by the original ISO four (Daniel Ezralow and Morleigh Steinberg included) and the Bobs (Richard Greene, Joe Finetti, Janie Scott and Matthew Stull) in both separate numbers and collaborations.