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Dance Kaleidoscope Displays Flexibility of the Art, the Body

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The eclectic programs that make up Dance Kaleidoscope each year are the concert dance equivalent of channel-surfing, so it’s odd to try to give them a unifying theme. Friday’s lineup at the Japan America Theatre, for instance, was called “Dance Now!”--as though the dance you’re watching could be anything else. And at the Ford Amphitheatre on Saturday night, the title was “In and Out of Tradition,” a phrase that could also describe an afternoon with your relatives.

No matter--you either like to shift from world to world quickly or not--so here goes. Friday night had several high points, starting with “Carry Me,” a duet created and performed by Myra Bazell and Monica Favand. Both women are beautiful movers who glided through an emotional landscape, riding bursts of music and landing in soft embraces in golden pools of light.

Another kind of duet was a highly successful reversal of ballet’s male/female pas de deux conventions. In “Strange Cries,” by Robert Gilliam, Jamal Story was the nearly naked, buff-and-ready ballet guy, who was spun, steadied and lifted by Kim Borgaro. She treated him not with kid gloves, the way a prince handles a swan (this was brave new ballet to rain forest music by Dead Can Dance), but more like a puppet. Still, Story came out on top--the spectacular display of his extended, sculpted body had a power all its own.

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Then there was Amrapali Ambegaokar with another kind of classical excellence in a nicely arranged kathak solo, with musicians onstage. Ambegaokar is, quite simply, one of the best kathak dancers around, with her clarity of line, her swift turns that end in perfect stillness, her rhythmically concise footwork and the kind of charm that makes her glow from within.

Two contemporary pieces also had their moments: Peter Kalivas’ sculptural solo “Stifling”; and Rudy Perez’s dangerously minimal “2wice,” a duet nicely danced by Mark Mendonca and Veronica Apodaca-Mendonca but dominated by a more captivating voice-over.

Mark Mendonca also appeared Saturday night, this time in his own tap solo, a ground-punishing display of angry, creative footwork. He could be the James Dean of tap if he’d replace the white pajamas with something cooler. Costumes were not a problem for the Liam Harney Irish Dance Company--especially if you like glittering Celtic motifs. Harney himself stands out among the young, skilled ensemble with his dense and dazzling footwork.

Legwork was more the theme of “Tango,” Johan Renvall’s very pleasant ballet-meets-tango piece for the three couples of State Street Ballet. Founded in 1994 and based in Santa Barbara, this company, with its technical skills and personalities, has much to recommend it.

In this lineup of finely honed dancers and choreographers--Stephanie Gilliland Dance Company’s elegantly crafted “Souliers de Plomb” was repeated on this program--an unfocused group like Ballet Folklorico del Pacifico, with its impressions of Aztec dancing, had trouble keeping up.

On the other hand, a newly formed youth ensemble, Art in Motion Dance Company, had the kind of focus and keen commitment that bodes well for the future. Directed by Cyd Glover, these young women (ages 6 to 20) danced with boldness and clarity to Donny Hathaway singing “Young, Gifted and Black,” and embodied powerful emotions that should by all rights be beyond their years. You couldn’t help hoping they continue dancing--or as one audience member said, “You go, girls.”

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