Jazz Choreographers Turn Up the Steam

The girls were on fire. They also steamed up the joint with sexy, sensational choreography. And the guys? They weren’t bad, either, especially when shirtless, in suits or strutting their own slinky stuff. One wanted to see more of all of them in “Jazz Dance LA 2001,” the seventh annual choreographers’ showcase held at Cal State L.A.’s Luckman Theater over the weekend. Of course, the 20 pieces presented--along with a tribute to veteran dancer-choreographer Alex Romero--made for a long evening, but one teeming with talent.

Kicking off the program with high voltage was Pat Taylor’s “O’Tinde,” a Latin-infused romp. Also in salsa mode: “Alcatraz,” choreographed by Luis and Joby Vazquez of Salsa Brava Dance Company fame, with six dancers shimmying as cops and cons. Coincidentally, the precursor to prison pieces may have been “Jailhouse Rock,” created in 1957 by Romero for Elvis Presley in the film of the same name. Romero, 88, whose long legacy includes uncredited work in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by film star Janet Leigh, choreographer Danny Daniels and Academy Award-winning dancer-actor George Chakiris.

Michael Menna and Kathleen Knapp Campbell restaged “Jailhouse Rock,” with Jerry Shev as a groin-grinding Elvis. Also exuberant: Jackie Sleight’s “Big Fun” had shades of Fosse, while Christine Baltes’ “Toybox” featured four hair-tossing women vamping with chairs. Johanna Sapakie danced her “Reflection/Resolution,” a lyric solo, and Charissa Saenz performed her moving “Were.” Terri Best’s “Sacrifice” saw a bevy of women in tribal vein; Deborah Brockus’ “Staring Into the Sun” offered sculptural poses; and Winifred R. Harris made good use of movement on boxes in “Alien Animals Inside of You.”

Amy Schadt-Flores’ “Ya Leo” was a study in powerful leaps and turns, while Kimo Keoke and Tosha Pierce’s “Symbiotic” proved an athletic duet. Completing the program: an office-spoofing opus by Frit and Frat Fuller and works by Rei Aoo, Jamie Nichols, Alex Magno, Adam Parson (with Cate Caplin and Murray Phillips), tapper Chance Taylor, Elkin Antoniou G., Kenji Yamaguchi, Claude Thomspon and Keny Long.