WEEKEND REVIEWS : Dance : A Simple ‘Three Tales’ From Goldberg Troupe at the Ford

An outdoor setting doesn’t necessarily require simplicity of means or concept. But Naomi Goldberg must have felt it does, because she drastically and disturbingly simplified her usually interesting choreography to the point of its becoming threadbare and insipid when her Los Angeles Modern Dance and Ballet troupe introduced her new “Three Tales” Saturday at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre.

The tales emerged heavily dependent for their meanings upon the plot summaries provided in the program booklet. Certainly the choreography itself did not tell the stories very completely or skillfully. There were lots of poses and freezes and little creation or development of character. Again and again, whole passages of prerecorded music would go by with little or no movement occurring at all.

What movement vocabulary and narrative structure there was looked heavily indebted to Martha Graham. Had her ghost witnessed the proceedings it would have become increasingly disquieted.

On the other hand, the final piece, “The Sisters Grimm,” appeared so derived from Mark Morris’ deconstruction of the “Nutcracker”--Morris calls his version “The Hard Nut”--that Goldberg’s piece probably should have been called “The Hard Sleeping Beauty.” But it was an atypical mess.

The “Three Tales,” as well as Goldberg’s solo Prologue (“Mango”), were derived from various cultures. “Princess of the Moon” was adapted by Philip Kan Gotanda from an 8th-Century Japanese tale and it was danced to excerpts from Robert Moran’s “From the Towers of the Moon.” Luis Alfaro reinterpreted a Mexican folk tale as the basis for Goldberg’s “La Llorona,” which was danced to music by Carlos Rodriguez.

“The Sisters Grimm,” as mentioned, was an effort to update “Sleeping Beauty,” this time to music by Daniel Lentz. “Mango” was adapted from Trinidad folklore by Nasser Nasser, and it was danced to music by Fredric Myrow.

In “Princess,” the theme was the transforming power of love. The moon princess descends to Earth, encounters human love but must return home where she at least is able to share her deepened insights with her attendants. Unfortunately, among other deficiencies, Goldberg devised too weak a pas de deux for Kathryn Sanders (Moon Princess) and Damon Cadena-White (Prince of the Village) to carry the weight of a transformation.

“La Llorona” had far darker, moralizing meanings. A young woman (the appealing Alissa Mello) is raped by a villager (a stolid Tim Fox) who tears out her tongue so that she cannot reveal his identity. Apparently, the original folk tale serves to caution wayward youth. Here, the pervasive Grahamisms verged on parody. Al-faro’s long and very detailed program notes also related the repentance and death of the rapist, but this part was omitted from the choreography.

The new sleeping beauty turned out to be a spoiled teen-ager living among tyrannical servants. Goldberg got in a few good jokes. This beauty (Susan Marie Castang) took an inordinate time to wake up, and she and her Prince Charming (Fox) were seen 25 years later with about 19 little kids. Happily ever after, indeed. But again the choreography spun its wheels trying to eat up measures of the music.

In “Mango,” Goldberg executed the rapid shifts between abrupt angular movements and difficult held balances with precision and clarity. But they didn’t amount to much; the piece didn’t go anywhere.