Yorke Team Caught Up in Technique

Occasionally, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Such was the case Friday night at Occidental College, at a performance by Yorke Dance Project, a clutch of dancers and choreographers from various companies, assembled by choreographer-dancer Yolande Yorke-Edgell, an alumna of the recently disbanded Lewitzky Dance Company.

The evening of old and new works was more muddled than mindful, with technique, for the most part, surpassing choreographic ingenuity.

Courtney Selan’s world premiere, “Badderputtle” (the title referring to a fictitious “gardening” town), proved a 25-minute, 12-dancer excursion into ennui. Linda Coler’s story, fleshed from Selan’s concept and projected as text onstage, brimmed with empty moves: skipping, bowing and leaning.

Awash with Simon Tomkinson’s wreaths and trellised carts and Joel Berlin’s costumes of top hats, overalls and earthy frocks, this miniseries of tedium, in which judging topiary was the centerpiece, teemed with shameless mugging. Christopher Anderson’s taped score was quaint, but this Mayberry-meets-Mr. Rogers package failed to germinate.

Mark Baldwin’s U.S. premiere, “Out of Doors,” effectively showcased Cristy Candler, Yorke-Edgell and David Plettner. Set to the dissonant tonalities of Bela Bartok, this meandering work featured flexing arm muscles, high kicks and determinedly feline stances in solos and duos.

Yorke-Edgell’s world premiere, “Between Sleeping and Waking,” made good use of Steve Reich’s propulsive music to successfully explore the dream state. Roger Gonzalez Hibner, Heather McArdle, Diana MacNeil, Madeline Soglin and Mimi Wilheim keenly embodied Yorke-Edgell’s unconscious desires to be, at various times, a waitress, a ballroom dancer and even a man in a tie wearing a blindfold.

Yorke-Edgell’s previously reviewed “Prey” and Bella Lewitzky’s “The Song of the Woman,” perfunctorily danced by MacNeil, completed the program.