March 12–19, 1998
review|dance

Shut Up and Dance
Dancers of the Pennsylvania Ballet, Forrest Theatre, March 7

Shut Up and Dance has rightly become a Philadelphia phenomenon. If you could bottle the enthusiasm that filled the Forrest Theatre last Saturday night, the world would be a better place.

One of the best things about this annual concert—besides the fact that it raises money for MANNA—is that it offers PAB dancers a chance to stretch their wings. Pieces are choreographed by company members. The work often ventures into territory outside their regular ballet repertoire. The dancers, in turn, all of whom perform for free, get to show off their versatility and virtuosity in new and challenging ways. A guest choreographer gets thrown into the mix, adding yet another twist.
This year's program contained a total of 14 pieces, making for a full evening. And clearly, certain choreographers are more advanced in their dance-making skills than others.

Meredith Rainey, Christopher Roman and Matthew Neenan all devised complex work built of intriguing dynamics. Neenan offered two provocative dances. In the ethereal Lesson Two, seven dancers moved to music by The Infant Reader. The duets were especially entrancing, with partners sometimes making coy moves in response to the passionate advances of their partners and other times merging to look like birds in flight. In the powerful Aria, two men (Neenan and Edward Cieslak) come to terms with their mutual affection for each other.

Rainey's ambitious and spiritual Still Holding—performed to vocals by a group made up of members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Singers and the Academy of Vocal Arts—evoked a sense of anguish and wonder in the face of a loved one's death. Roman's mournful Rest carried a similar theme, with dancers slowly losing their ability to perform as others gallantly tried to soothe their sorrow and frustration.

Also compelling was Carry Me, a guest shot choreographed by Myra Bazell and Monica Favand. Performed by Christine Cox and Anne White, this piece, based on Bazell's real-life experience, deals with a nurturing mother-daughter relationship in which tables are turned when the mother is stricken by illness. White and Cox were powerful and dramatic in their roles.

The heavy mood of these pieces was balanced by a few lighter ones. In the full-company Opening Number, choreographed by Roman and Leslie Carothers, dancers parodied a wide range of dance styles (even Irish stepping à la Lord of the Dance) to the sound of a yodeling soprano, as Kelly Moriarty, in tutu, sunglasses and fat cigar, acted as the pompous balletmaster. Moriarty reappeared in a tutu to do a hilarious Dying Swan. He playfully mocked the classic solo with exaggerated hand gestures and sly facial expression. The Man That Got Away, the evening's showstopper, was terrific fun, too. Choreographed by Sherry Zunker Dow, this had Jodie Gates dancing a vampy solo in a futile attempt to gain the attention of a disinterested man.

The program also included a screening of Tobin Rothlein's documentary short, The Learning Curve. The film provided poignant insight into what the evening was all about: the good work of MANNA, which prepares and delivers meals to people who are homebound due to HIV/AIDS. It artfully underscored Shut Up's purpose of giving back, with heart, soul and sweat, to help conquer a killer that touches all of us.
-Deni Kasrel