Feet Speak, ‘Wanted’ Top Awards

The first year of Occidental College’s enterprising Feet Speak dance series and Collage Dance Theatre’s site-specific “Most Wanted” project at the Lincoln Heights jail dominated the seventh annual Lester Horton Dance Awards, announced Friday on the plaza of the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. in conjunction with the Dance Kaleidoscope festival.

Honoring local achievement in concert dance, the Horton Awards are named after the Los Angeles modern dance pioneer who died in 1953 and are chosen by the members of the Dance Resource Center, a service organization for the Southland dance community.

Although nearly all the 1998 honors went to modern dance in many different styles, tap and flamenco also won approval--but no local ballet. Moreover, the bulk of the awards went to artists and presenters who ignored the severe downturn in arts funding and took major risks to showcase new work.

Mounted on a shoestring, the Feet Speak series won four awards--two (for sustained achievement and a special award) going to series producer Ellen Ketchum, one to tap-dancer Mark Mendonca for individual performance and another to Eileen Cooley for lighting design.

A plotless environmental spectacle dealing with facets of imprisonment, “Most Wanted” also won four awards--for Heidi Duckler’s choreography, Carla Lucerno’s music, the Collage Dance Theater’s performance and overall production in 100-seat-maxiumum venue.

Jacques Heim’s alternately gymnastic and satiric Diavolo Dance Theatre proved a multiple winner as well, with awards for Laura Brody’s costume design, Roger Webb’s set design and the company’s full-evening “Series de Tete” program, for overall production (100 capacity or more).

In this last category, Diavolo tied Southland dance matriarch Bella Lewitzky, honored for her company’s gala farewell program at Cal State L.A. Performed on that program, Lewitzky’s “Nos Duraturi” tied with Donald McKayle’s gritty “Songs of the Disinherited” in the category honoring restagings, reconstructions or revivals.

Other Horton honorees included postmodern innovator Rudy Perez for teaching and flamenco veteran Juan Talavera for staging traditional dance.

* “Dance Kaleidoscope” continues tonight at 8 with a program titled “Dance Here,” featuring performances by Diavolo Dance Theater; Rosanna Gamson/World Wide, with Winifred Harris; Osseus Labyrint; Victoria Marks; Michael Mizerany; and Stephanie Gilliland. (213) 343-6683.