Dance Magazine
March, 1999 (excerpted)
PHILADELPHIA DANCES
UARTS DANCE THEATER, PHI ADELPHIA
SEPTEMBER 24-26, 1998-KAREN BAMONTE,
MYRA BAZELL, MEREDITH RAINEY
OCTOBER 22-24, 1998-ATMARAH DANCE
THEATRE, LISA BARDARSON, DANCEFUSION
REVlEWED BY BRENDA DlXON GOTTSCHlLD
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Partially funded by the William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia Dances is a three-year collaboration between the Philadelphia Dance Alliance and the University of the Arts School of Dance. Touring opportunities, residencies, artist-exchange programs, and this performance series are all part of the package, which will culminate with "2000 Feet - A Celebration of World Dance" in June 1999. The two middle concerts in this four part series showcased works that seemcharacteristic of the Philadelphia dance ethos. Whether in Karen Bamonte's exquisite solos, the small-group works by Pennsylvania Ballet's Meredith Rainey and the ballet-oriented At Marah Dance Theatre, Myra Bazell's and Lisa Bardarson's excursions into cultish communities, or Dancefusion's carrying forth the modern dance tradition, this community prefers dramatic, expressiv e dance. |  |
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... Two floor-to-ceiling scaffolds across
the upstage area provide the backdrop for Bazell's Trapture - a wonderful
collision of rapture, capture, and trap - hot themes explored in a postmodern
style. Contact lifts, same-gender partnering, acrobatic expertise, heavy
breathing (we no longer mask our efforts), and a little club/hip-hop -
these are elements of the new norm. Bazell stuffs a magician's share of
ideas into this sprawling piece. Some clarity of vision is gained when
she chooses unison work for her eleven dancers, especially in scaffolding
sections. Conrad Bender's highly effective lighting design is a prime
mover here and shapes the bodies that hang, lean, stretch, pull, and bend
against the scaffold. The piece has too many dances packed into one, but
the performers' passion carried the day. ... Two Philadelphia dance events: They typified this city. Philadelphia dances with a sense of tradition, a level of skill, and a regard for good taste. |