‘Bernarda Alba’ Doesn’t Always Make Its Point

Consider it a happy coincidence that the locally based Aeolian Ballet Theatre performed a dance adaptation of “The House of Bernarda Alba” just after a production of Federico Garcia Lorca’s play of the same name opened at the Mark Taper Forum.

Garcia Lorca’s portrait of oppression in a family of women has inspired dance dramas from a host of choreographers, including Alvin Ailey and Kenneth MacMillan. The uneven, one-hour Aeolian version, Sunday at the University of Judaism, didn’t challenge these heavyweights, but it did highlight the things that dance can do better than spoken drama (depict shared, unexpressed feelings), and also what it can’t (explain why a man would plan to marry one sister while sleeping with another).

Those who’d seen the Taper staging could more easily penetrate the plot confusions in the adaptation by choreographer Adonis Daukayev--and also appreciate his best ideas.

In the play, for instance, Pepe is a key character much talked about but never seen. Daukayev, however, placed him powerfully front and center, dancing the role with strong technical and expressive skills.

The choreographer proved less successful at giving each woman a distinctive dance style and, despite the heroic energy of the talented Cindy Ricalde, tuned the matriarch of the title into a florid, wicked stepmother role.

Part of his problem is that, except for a dreary fate trio, Daukayev reserved toe shoes for a lyric duet between Pepe and the doomed, adulterous Adela. But Maria Serafica danced listlessly here--her most powerful moments came in scenes of anger and rebellion. And the lack of pointe choreography restricted the other women’s interpretive options.

Amanda Mazzer, Angelina Mia, Catherine Haugland and Lara Ramirez completed the cast, dancing to taped music by six composers, plus folk songs.

No further performances are scheduled, but Channel Islands Ballet has announced its own “Bernarda Alba,” scheduled for late September in Thousand Oaks.