Strong Music, a Few Missteps From Aman Folk Ensemble

Something has gone wrong with a dance and music concert when an actor onstage reads from the U.S. Immigration Act for too long. It is true that Aman Folk Ensemble’s latest compilation program, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale Friday night, was called “The Immigrants,” but which part of this recitation of legalese explained why?

Happily, Aman’s musical component was again its undiluted, first-rate backbone. When musical director and bass player Vic Koler joined Maimon Miller and Paul Lacques on violin to perform a Romanian doina center stage, the sweetness and urgency of their playing quickened the heart. Violinist Lisa Haley filled the air with her evocative introduction to “Dances of Rhythm,” and both the Sephardic and klezmer musical interludes were vivid incarnations of lively, specific traditions.

Announced as a premiere, the evening was actually made of mostly familiar pieces with slight reworking. The strongest additions were a riveting opening chant by Native American Chuna McIntyre, and the lilting “Armenian Dance” made by Tom Bozigian.

Presumably to soften the shock of “boomeranging” from culture to culture, actor Patrick Vest appeared at intervals, offering with an ersatz folksiness a “we are the world” script (by Romalyn Tilghman). Often drowning in the melting pot, the narration bounced blandly from “it doesn’t matter where we come from,” to “it’s important to know our roots.”

Only in the last few numbers--respectable salsa, swing and a step dancing-clogging melange--did one of the signal effects of immigrant dancing emerge. These blended forms represent the creative merging of cultures in North America.

Friday’s enthusiastic audience filled less than a third of the Alex, perhaps indicating that Aman is having difficulty fitting into the ongoing multicultural evolution.