WEEKEND REVIEWS : Dance : Collaborative Night Belongs to Klezmatics

Genuine inspiration is so rare and thrilling in the theater that it makes ordinary virtues such as intelligence and proficiency seem insufficient.

Case in point: “Klez-Mania,” conceived as a collaboration between the New York-based Klezmatics (in their local debut) and choreographer Naomi Goldberg’s L.A. Modern Dance and Ballet--with a little help from star playwright Tony Kushner. Think of it as an essay in nostalgic Jewish modernism or maybe “Kushner on the Roof.”

It didn’t work out that way Saturday at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. Yes, Goldberg provided eclectic choreography suffused with twisty, Eastern European-style shoulder and arm articulation--and Kushner came up with a rambling, whimsical text about his immigrant grandmother and her spontaneous absorption of knowledge through dancing.

But without question, the evening belonged to the Klezmatics--and especially to singer Lorin Sklamberg, who kept pushing beyond the celebration of Jewish roots toward a state of pure ecstasy. The current Klezmer revival may be founded upon the fusion of bouncy rhythm and sinuous melody, but Sklamberg and his colleagues insisted upon the visionary spirituality in the tradition--something that Goldberg and Kushner clearly recognized but never really achieved.

With David Edelstad’s socialist manifesto “In Kamf,” the Klezmatics also gave the event its pithiest statement of Jewish struggle.

Kushner and stellar colleagues talked about spirituality and struggle in “It’s an Undoing World” (a collaborative work in progress), while former Paul Taylor dancer Nicholas Gunn approximated spiritual fervor and indomitable pride in his performances all evening long.

*

But even Gunn’s intensity paled beside Sklamberg’s in the forceful “Nign” solo, just as all of Goldberg’s exquisite finger ripples and soft whirls to the floor in her own “Kale Bazetsn” solo missed the depth and urgency of Alicia Svigals’ violin playing.

As a result, “Klez-Mania” remained a concert in spite of itself, one garnished with a little entertaining chit-chat and some nice dancing--but only memorable because of its music.

Besides Gunn, Goldberg enlisted the authoritative Nan Friedman to supplement her hard-working eight-member company. Moreover, for “N.Y. Psycho Freylekhs,” she brought in 30 extra performers from the Cheremoya Escola de Samba, the Hollywood High School Drill Team and the Pink Triangles--all of them proving, if nothing else, that Klezmer is universal dance music.

Along with Kushner himself, “It’s an Undoing World” featured speakers John Fleck, Rachel Rosenthal, Nealla Gordon, Page Leong and Teresa Tudury. Periodically, their readings awkwardly paused for formal music and dance interludes. Only the satiric “I Fell in Love with the Law” number seemed to really fit Kushner’s alternately brash and sentimental style. The Klezmatics’ Matt Darriau, Frank London and Svigals were the credited composers.