Fountain Theatre ranges wide

Fear, loathing, love, anger, joy, whimsy, strength, tenderness. The gamut of human emotions was on display Saturday when the Fountain Theatre presented its 10th annual Festival of Solos and Duets, with 11 choreographers offering varying slice-of-life dances in the cozy space.

For sheer intensity, Diana MacNeil’s “Lacrymosa,” performed by the choreographer and Sean Greene, proved a heart-wrenching study of hope and doom. With arms outstretched as if they were hurtling toward heaven, the couple careened through a series of lifts and linked-leg moves until finally united in breathless salvation.

Also commanding: the statuesque Daniela Ardalla in her “Manchai Puitu.” Based on a traditional Peruvian legend, the work showcased elongated sculptural moves, deep-rooted angst and Graham-like stances evoking tragic love.

Stephanie Powell’s equally potent solo -- but of an ebullient stripe -- “Heaven,” featured the choreographer in stealth mode. Whether executing bravura balancing poses or slinking, spinning or shoulder-shimmying, her body was an ecstatic vessel pulsating with life.

Similarly, Retno Sarnadi powered through Donna Sternberg’s “Animalia” with perpetual jitterbuggy, hula-hoopy, all-atwitter motions inspired by insects. On an even lighter note was “Breeze,” a Christine Baltes jazz number danced by Janell Burgess. Punctuated with splits and pirouettes, it was undercut by innocuous music and Burgess’ forced Bettie Page come-hither smile.

Love -- or lack of it -- was the order of the day for Phoenix Cole in “Don’t Leave,” his balletic leaps and feline slitherings trying hard to do justice to Jacques Brel’s tear-jerker “Ne Me Quitte Pas.” Narineh Ghazarians, also opting for a bit of amour in her “Apres un Reve” (music by Faure), offered a combination of yoga-like poses that propelled her across the stage in surprisingly lyrical fashion.

With what she described as a choreographic fairy tale, “Thaw,” Nathalie Broizat deftly delivered the evening’s humor: She, Columbine-cheeked and skittering, discovers her dining table is an animated cylinder -- Jason Jenn -- that rolls around the floor to Vivaldi before slyly revealing itself as a fox in this charming nod to commedia dell’arte.

“Famine Song,” choreographed by Benita Bike and performed by Sarah Shouse and Teya Wolvington, featured lovely arm work and precise unisons, while Filip A. Condeescu’s “Faces of Ascension III. Crengi,” a duet by Heather Ahern and the choreographer, proved static. Laurie Cameron’s recently reviewed “At the Joshua Tree” completed this edition of an always welcome, kaleidoscopic series.