New Company in Town Offers Dose of Energy

A new dance company is always welcome in town. Nesting Dolls, directed by choreographer Cid Pearlman and described as “punk-lyric contemporary,” recently emigrated from San Francisco. Their energetic debut performance at Highways on Friday--two older works and a premiere--proved mostly auspicious.

“Shiny Gun” (1997), with text by Dorothy Parker, slyly weds the late writer’s acerbic poems (riffs on lost loves and suicide) with Pearlman’s fluid, jaunty choreography. Rachel Montez Collins, Jennifer Kesler, Miriam Kramer and Mary Ann Wall danced with athletic panache, slithering into pinup poses while alternating between mock typing, tray-carrying and gun-shooting.

“I brought my hips to the table and yes, I dyed all your shoes black” (1998) saw Kesler in a vigorous duet with David King. Set to an original, melodious score by Erling Wold, the piece made use of Michelle Murphy’s poetry, which was projected both onto the floor and the dancers.

This gambit--mostly undecipherable save for a few words like “mouth” and “face”--was nevertheless visually pleasing, as the couple’s push-pull relationship played out with some fine lifts and gentle hip-swaying.

Pearlman’s premiere, “Drive,” proved the evening’s least engaging work. At 25 minutes, it was more an exercise in freneticism, with Ann Kaneko’s film--shots of cars, buses and freeways--providing an unfortunate backdrop that was more diversionary than enhancing.

Jonathan Segel’s harsh techno-influenced score promoted angst, while Montez Collins, King, Kramer and Wall assumed different movement combinations. There was also much breast-clutching, solid one-leg turning and playful shimmying, but chaos generally ruled over creativity.