Dance : College Choreographers Toe the Line

Is gesture-dominated dance the obsession of young choreographers working in colleges across the Southwest--or just something their professors teach and reward? Is head-in-the-sand conservatism also a dance trend on these campuses, or merely a ticket to wider recognition?

The Southwest Regional gala of the American College Dance Festival raised lots of questions Saturday night as 10 pieces (chosen from 37) passed across the stage of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

Representing Arizona, California, Hawaii and Utah, three faculty and six student choreographers presented largely imitative work, which is probably to be expected. More surprising: the stodginess of the evident sources or models for their creations--including the rebels. An afternoon (non-adjudicated) program reportedly offered more daring dances, but the gala focused on lessons learned, especially those involving music visualization.

The host campus, Cal State Long Beach, won pride of place through the choreography of a stellar guest: postmodern icon Laura Dean. Using a typically invigorating polyglot score by Richard Kosinski and John Zeretske, her “Breath of Fire” somehow made six dancers look like a whole army of neo-formalist invaders--with bold structural ploys and lots of jumping the keys to the high exhilaration of the piece.

Next in worth (to one observer, at least): “ . . . And the Wind Cried” by University of Arizona student Deborah Birrane. Beginning with spotlighted vignettes of individual anguish--and grounded in literal depictions of women’s suffering--the septet expanded into engulfing swirls of group motion that, however orgasmic, always stayed strongly sculpted.

As the program descended from this level of accomplishment, the student performances remained strong enough to dominate a very large stage, whether the style on view qualified as adapted gymnastics (UC Riverside student Cory Nakasue’s trio “Phase III”) or all-but-danceless-movement-theater (UCLA student Nina Kaufman’s trio “Silenced”).

In other style extremes, student Christephor Gilbert of the University of Hawaii at Manoa adopted the full regalia of European neo-Expressionist dance-drama for the quintet “Eight Vignettes on ‘Lost.’ ” Southern Utah University faculty member Shauna Mendini fielded a cast of 18 in the symphonic “Heart Song.” And Arizona State University faculty member Cliff Keuter explored neo-balletic lyricism in the trio “Wings.”

For jazzy athleticism, you had plenty of choices. For example, the quirky gestural non sequitur of the quartet “Figuratively Speaking,” by Mills College faculty member Janice Garrett. Or the slinky, mock-menacing gambits of the foursome practicing “Intrigue” by UC Irvine student Brook Notary. Or the mostly five-way comings and goings, posings and swayings of “Left of Center” by Utah State University student Stacy Chadwick.

You want a verdict on the whole event--as if it made a statement about the kind of dance being created on Southwest campuses in 1995? Lots of talent and discipline, certainly, but not much interest in the world outside the studio, little recognition of the rich traditions beyond the academic mainstream and practically no guts at all.