Frenzy of Talent Ends Youth Showcase

It has been said that youth is wasted on the young. Not in the case of the dozens of fresh young dancers who took to the stage over the weekend at Los Angeles Theatre Center, as Dance 2K2, a celebration of national dance month, ended with a wallop.

Friday night saw Monica DeYampert’s 45-minute movement extravaganza, set to the music of Prince, with 17 dancers wildly gyrating and frenetically performing fouettes barefoot. Edge Dance Company--students of Edge Performing Arts Center, with choreography by Edge’s staff--upped the adrenaline ante with six numbers ranging from “Footloose” to “Le Jazz Hot.” Tapper Ryan Lohoff blew the roof off with his syncopated solo, “Smooth Criminal.”

Modern dance was also well represented, giving both evenings a serious dose of beauty and depth: Kitty McNamee’s Hysterica Dance Company offered six pieces of intense technique coupled with highly charged emotions on Friday. Highlights included excerpts from two works in progress: “Red Wagon” and “The Sun (Part 1),” lyrical duets with strong, sexy partnering.

On Saturday, Donna Sternberg and Dancers served up two works, “La Loba” and “Skittering,” the former a feral trio based on a wolf woman tale, the latter an extended, albeit overly long, riff with lots of yoga-based moves, slouching and, well, skittering across the stage.

Winifred R. Harris’ Between Lines troupe presented a trio of previously seen works, including “Interrogation,” in which fluid balancing feats on red metal chairs mesmerized the audience.

And what would a Los Angeles dance festival be without the jubilant stylings of Danza Folkloricanto/USA? Under the stellar direction of Gema Sandoval, this beaming company brought the regional dances of Mexico to life with six ebullient works. Characterized by breezy line formations, rhythmic stamping and swirling skirts, the dozen dancers were as frothy as cotton candy.