AVAZ Weaves a Silk Road to the Persian Past

A series of caravan trails linking Asia with Europe, the Silk Road, brought gunpowder, the compass, paper and printing to the West along with Chinese fabrics and porcelain. A sampling of dances from the varied cultures along this fabled trade route might make a fascinating fantasy journey. However, the locally based AVAZ International Dance Theatre has become so identified with what it calls “the Iranian world” that the rest of the Silk Road remained largely untraveled in the company’s strongly executed 20th anniversary program at Cal State Northridge on Saturday.

Featuring brief and usually helpful introductions by artistic director Anthony Shay, the program capitalized on elegant women’s dances of the Persian court tradition, with their pressure-less gliding steps and delicate, sinuous arm vocabulary. But the deep solemnity of Armenian women’s dances also graced the event, first in the quartet “Im Anoush Daviq,” with its exciting spatial fluidity and, curling, artfully sculpted hands. Later, in a untitled piece from Armenia and Azerbaijan, a dozen women traced loops, double-circles and wheel formations using the softest walking steps imaginable.

The choreographers of this dreamlike ritual, Shay and associate director Jamal, also used their intimate knowledge of antique classicism to create two extended impressionistic portraits of the dynastic Persian past: “Gol-ha I” and “Raqs-e Mehregan,” arguably the highlights of the evening for non-Iranians in the audience.

For the majority, however, Shay’s performance of old Persian rhythmic songs generated an ovation matched only by the one awarded percussionist Siamak Pouian after his bravura solo. Mohammad Saeedabadi sounded equally accomplished on flute and zither, while Lori Parker, Karen Ochoa and Brandy Healy were assigned the showpiece dance opportunities. Only Shay’s vibrant women’s sextet from Samarqand gave AVAZ dancers the advantage of live, onstage accompaniment.