Six Fathers and Six Dancing Daughters Take Tender Steps

The ties that bind, unravel and reknit are tenderly explored by Victoria Marks in her multi-part “Father / Daughter Dances,” presented for the first time Thursday at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

The work pairs six fathers with their dancer daughters in family duets. Each duet has a different tone, movement style, intention and effect, although a few images recur.

The piece opens with the whole cast dancing a wistful polka together, establishing the initial connection. Then the couples depart one by one, to reappear in various sequences.

Sarah and Elliot Elgart overcome their spatial distance only by working to learn each other’s gestures. But the hard-earned learning remains incomplete.

Becky and Steve Keyser communicate through an athletic game, punctuating their relationship by calling out commands such as “Go” or “Stop.” At the end, each implores the other to “go,” but their hands remain linked.

Most touching is Carmela Hermann’s unsuccessful effort to “revive” her father, Peter. It’s a dance version of the Sylvia Plath “Daddy” poem, but without the anger.

There are two children in the cast. Anya Baroff leapfrogs over her father, Michael, and otherwise orders him about in a short, playful sequence. Elsewhere, Clementine Levy asks her father, Barnaby, what’s going on, and his answer is helpful to the audience as well, because while much about the evening is clear, not everything is.

The last duet, wary and enigmatic, danced here by Roxanne and Bob Steinberg, was presented by a different father-daughter team at California Plaza in July 1998. So although the dancers are credited for contributing to the material, the work is not as autobiographical as it may seem.

There is a surprise ending, which we won’t give away because the program repeats today. But Marks lets a father have the final word, and it turns out to be both irritating and sweet.

The program opened with a screening of “Men,” a collaboration with filmmaker Margaret Williams, which was reviewed as part of the California Plaza evening.

* Victoria Marks Ensemble repeats “Father / Daughter Dances” today at 8:30 p.m. at Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. $15. (310) 315-1459.