Jose Greco II Adds to Father’s Steps

If the name Jose Greco brings to mind the intricate, stern stomping you first learned to call flamenco while watching “The Ed Sullivan Show,” you’re only halfway to imagining the appeal of his son, Jose Greco II.

Guest-starring Saturday night with Angelita and her company, Concierto Flamenco, in “Flamenco Fever” at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A., Greco carried on his family’s tradition of fleet feet and breathless poses, but he also added some airborne steps and pirouettes that lean more toward Baryshnikov.

Both panther-like and princely, Greco was a treat, dancing only three times in an otherwise often bland, too-long program. In “Farruca,” his solo to agile guitar accompaniment by Gino D’Auri, he danced a series of sexy technical displays with a little self-aware teasing thrown in. “El Soldado” was more experimental, a military monologue (think of a balletic Errol Flynn) to high-flown taped music by Antonio Gabarri. Slightly overwrought, it still contained interesting shapes and ideas for flamenco. “Encuentro” was a brief, pleasant duet with his wife, Cristina Greco.

Amplification problems plagued much of the rest of the program. Singer Antonio El Camborio and D’Auri’s guitar were too loud for footwork to compete. Sometimes palmas (hand claps)--used too frequently altogether--drowned out the feet, although Alfredo Aja and Norberto Magana managed to shine in a duet in near-silence.

Other numbers by Angelita for her large ensemble suffered from myriad choreographic ills: repetitive steps; decorative, unison combinations; and, most disconcerting, the use of taped orchestral music that sketched out a dark emotional landscape while dancers grinned, sashayed and flounced. If they, or Angelita in her solos, could relate to any restless longing in the music underpinning their dance, they kept it to themselves.

* “Flamenco Fever” continues at the Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, on Oct. 4, 8 p.m., and Oct. 5, 3 p.m. $27-32. (800) 233-3123.