MUSIC AND DANCE REVIEWS : Prague Festival Ballet Trips Into Delirious Eclecticism

The fall of communism sent a number of Eastern European choreographers desperately scavenging through once-forbidden Western European and American modernism, with some of this century’s greatest achievements accorded the same value as pop claptrap. Call it a period of transition--of catching up--but the three-part program that Prague Festival Ballet brought to Cal State L.A. on Saturday had only this kind of delirious eclecticism to offer.

Artistic director David Slobaspyckyj wildly ricocheted between extremes throughout “Love Lessons” and “Silent Whispers,” two eight-dancer suites to taped music. In the former, he mostly explored the disparity between sex-driven human behavior and the artificiality of classical ballet, with his comedy growing increasingly crude before the insipid “Tico-Tico” finale.

“Silent Whispers” used Czech folk songs and steps to suggest the ways a traditional culture can condition the identity and behavior of contemporary young people: a profound theme nearly trivialized to extinction here but one that Slobaspyckyj should re-investigate in a few years when he settles down and stops flitting from one obvious effect to another.

In “Serenade Opus 5,” Alice Minodora Necsea took a string showpiece by Slovak composer Eugen Suchon and used it for an essay in formal Balanchine-style neoclassicism. Generally tentative and predictable, it boasted moments of genuine fluency but suffered from some of the weakest dancing in the program: sloppy unisons and graceless lifts in particular. However, Victor Vener led the California Philharmonic in a persuasive account of the score--and live music always helps.

A 10-dancer pickup ensemble using members of several Czech companies and recruits from the Vienna State Opera Ballet, Slobaspyckyj’s well-trained and hard-working group made its U.S. debut at the Luckman Complex on Saturday. No further local performances are scheduled.