Georgian Singers, Dancers Delight With Their Craft

Without much fanfare, the Georgian National Singing and Dancing Ensemble came to the Southland on Monday on its first tour in 23 years. Not surprisingly, the crowd that saw the opening of a two-day engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center was small.

That was a pity, because the audience saw some knockout dancing and heard some remarkable singing, and gave the nearly 80-member troupe an enthusiastic, stand-up reception.

In other words, the performance--which repeats in Pasadena Friday through Sunday, and in San Diego, Oct. 5-7, sold itself.

The program is called “The Legend of Tamar” and very loosely tells a story based on a national epic involving a legendary 12th century queen. The plot concerns a knight’s quest for his true love, who turns out to be Tamar herself. She has spiritually guided him throughout his travels.

Interestingly, the knight first has to become a child again in order to relive growing up, this time apparently making the right choices between, to quote the program, “confidence or doubt, war or peace, bravery or peace,” and so on.

At least, that’s supposed to be the story.

Even with a printed synopsis and rather sappy amplified voice-over dialogue in English between Tamar and the child, it’s easy to miss the connections between what turned out to be a quite skeletal plot and the large-scale folkloric divertissements presented onstage. It may be more unified and sensible in Georgian.

Still, what singing and dancing.

Often a cappella, the male chorus capitalized on endlessly held drone tones above which floated plangent counterpoint. Special trilling or catch-throat calls occasionally embellished the style, although even without that the sounds and the harmonies were always thrilling.

The dancing fell into two styles, depending on gender. The men excelled in virile high-flying and kicking virtuosic moves, often spinning or turning in the air and landing on their shins. They also went up on the tips of their toes, despite soft-leather boots (no blocked toe shoes here), to make stabbing accents or perch punishingly to show their worthiness.

The women were always more demure, gliding in floating patterns, the sleeves of their gowns trailing out to the sides or streaming behind their heads as they held up their arms. They looked like a bevy of Winged Victories.

One of the loveliest dance sequences occurred when the child encountered such a group of white-robed women emerging from the mists. It recalls Siegfried’s astonishment in “Swan Lake” when he arrives at the lakeside to discover the otherworldly creatures who are swans by day and women by night.

But nothing dramatic was made of the encounter. The boy appears to be awed and leaves the stage, and the women dance on, as if they were in any Georgian cultural dance program.

And so it goes through battles and festivals and a wedding sequence. The troupe gives its all holding back no energy or commitment, seemingly in spite of the narrative.

But no matter. Jettison the idea of the story. Go for the dancing and the singing.

*

* “The Legend of Tamar,” Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m., Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St. $30-$53. (626) 449-7360. And Oct. 5 and 6, 7:30 p.m., Oct. 7, 2 and 7:30 p.m., San Diego Civic Theatre, 3rd Avenue and B Street. $35-$55. (619) 220-TIXS.