Show must go on, even if the accompanying music doesn’t

There’s something eerie -- and maddening -- when a ringing cell phone stops a CD in mid-play. A rare event (something about crossed signals), but that’s what happened Friday at the El Portal Theatre, when dancer-choreographer Marie de la Palme was forced to improvise her rapturous “Le Coeur Illumine,” an aerial ballet with hanging fabric set to the Adagio from Ravel’s G-major piano concerto.

The show had to go on -- and on -- as the finale of the three-hour, 15-work evening, organized by the Los Angeles Dance Invitational, began again with Ravel’s elegiac music.

But the beauty of the dance -- and of most of the night’s dancers -- brought salvation. Indeed, Los Angeles boasts an awesome array of talent, including two choreographers making local debuts. Jennifer Backhaus McIvor’s “Connections,” performed by Backhaus Dance, proved a study in strength and agility as six dancers captivated the audience with grace and gumption.

Kudos also go to Kelly Kemp, whose solo “squint,” energetically danced by Heidi Jones Eggert, offered contortions and one-armed handstands.

Another solo, Erica Rebollar’s new “Hunter/Hunted,” saw the choreographer-dancer in thrilling variations on yoga postures.

Stellar trios included “Baby Blues,” Maggie Danielsen’s hilarious premiere with tappers dressed as babies, sucking on pacifiers while jauntily shuffling; and Terry Beeman’s “Bound,” his beautiful, angst-ridden homage to “The Hours.”

Patrick David Bradley also probed the concept of isolation with his ambitious premiere, “Light.” Teeming with twirling and lifts, it was eloquently danced by his 15-member San Pedro City Ballet. And Kenneth Walker’s latest, “Angel’s Lament,” featured a lively quartet with on-pointe preening and high-flying hunks.

Less successful were the Tweaksters (Regan Patno and Julia Snyder) who performed “The Robots,” their perfunctory new work, with Velcro-covered balls.

Howard Ibach again produced the event benefiting Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, with winners of the 2003 Music Center Spotlight Awards -- lively tapper Joseph Wiggan and modern dancer Kyly Zackeim -- giving exemplary performances. Steve Zee choreographed “Wave” for eight young hoofers who drew rousing applause.

Michele Simmons received the Stanley Holden Award for distinguished teaching, delivering an eloquent speech after her ode to womanhood, “Pith,” was beautifully danced. Mitzi Gaynor took home the invitational’s award for distinguished lifetime achievement, launching into a 20-minute dancing-wisecracking shtick. Zaftig host Liz Torres told fat jokes, while Maria Gillespie’s “Synch Through, Revel Two” and Liz Imperio’s “God’s Lyrics” completed the top-notch program.