‘Candle in the Sun’ sheds little light

For many emerging choreographers who are young and female, dance is a vehicle for self-discovery -- for understanding, that is, what it means to be young and female. But why are the results of such earnest investigations so often steeped in powerlessness?

The latest example of this trend is Paula Present and her Ptero Dance Theatre’s “Candle in the Sun,” which on Friday opened a two-weekend run at the Ivy Substation. Conceived as a journey of personal empowerment (according to program notes), the intermissionless dance suite nevertheless focused primarily on well-worn (but apparently not yet worn out) metaphors of female despair.

In the literal-minded “OmPaHdEnLeIsAs (madness within Ophelia),” the delicate, willowy Lillian Bitkoff was pulled and pushed this way and that by Chris Stanley (as the Shakespearean character’s father) and Carlos Rodriguez (as Hamlet), then slung about by a corps of black-clad personifications of madness (Sarandon Cassidy, Jennifer Flanagan, Patricia Hernandez, Sharon Jakubecy, and Kristen Wilkinson). Object rather than agent of her own fate, this Ophelia lacked even the volition to kill herself. Instead, this task fell to a stately, balletic “river” (Shannon Harris).

Less storyboarded, “Scrape” featured Present feeling an unspecified anguish that snaked up her spine and erupted into body-tracing gestures and repeated falls. After the versatile Harris offered support in partnering moves, the duet ended without resolve.

“Woman in There Somewhere” communicated Present’s intensions most clearly by employing a broader dynamic and emotional range. Splayed face down and unable even to rise up on her elbows at first, Chelsea Gilbert enacted the section “Hardest Part.” Then, Present danced “Verge,” with fast-flinging limbs punctuating a newfound sense of purpose.

Rather than sustain or build on this newfound momentum, the final segment, “The Unfolding,” found Bitkoff in woman-as-goddess poses and slowly unfolding lyrical extensions.

Based on the sculptures of Auguste Rodin, the more abstract “Where the Body Ends” featured Harris, Cassidy and Nicole La Cour oscillating between inwardly focused stillness and phrases that swept across the stage with sharp angularity.

In a radical shift of mood, the program closed with “Diamond Dances,” a helium-light piece set to the songs of Neil Diamond. Its insistent sexy cuteness, however, edged uncomfortably close to Vegas-show salaciousness.

Video projections prefaced each piece but did little to tease out new dimensions, instead revealing a youthful distrust of one’s audience and material.

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Ptero Dance Theatre

Where: Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday

Price: $10 to $20

Contact: (310) 399-3132