Dance Reviews

Jul 24, 2001 - Taniwha Dance Debuts at Wingfield as Part of Artown

By Jack Neal

Lesley Bandy has danced her way through much of her formidable life in classic ballet and the best in popular entertainment. Arriving in Reno in 1976 to star in Donn Arden's "Hello Hollwood, Hello" Bandy has had a stellar career. Now she has established a new dance troupe in Reno she calls Taniwha Dance.

Taniwha (pronounced Tahnifah) Dance debuted Monday night (7/23/2001) at the Wingfield Park Outdoor Amphitheater as part of Reno's Artown Festival. It was an auspicious beginning. Bandy had taken great care to make her company's debut as "just right" as a fledgling company operating on a shoestring budget can muster.

But mustering resources is the name of the game for fledgling dance companies. For Taniwha's opening concert Bandy put together a troupe of ten excellent dancers, three fine singers and an enviable band of seven. With lighting by the magical Michael Fernbach, sound by Mark Simon and extensive and lovely dance costumes designed and executed by Virginia Vogel the hour-long program came off, if not financially well heeled, at least reasonably well off. As a further enhancement of the company's first time out, the program closed with portions of an environmentally impassioned reggae musical, "The Last Rainforest," by Will Rose. Bandy provided the inventive, always interesting choreography.

Brittania Suite, with music by Sir Malcom Arnold, opened the program. The suite gave the company's young dancers a chance to show their stuff in three charming encounters with classical dance. The first episode entitled "An introduction to some village folk on a warm summer's day and their cow," featured ballerinas Kendra Beitz, Kim Petros, Kelsey Stosic and Krissie Thornhill. Each brings a skill and freshness to her work that, given more time together, could be the basis for an exceptionally vital corps de ballet in addition to a keen an enerigized collection of solo dancers. Kelly O'Neil and Justin Sherwood were standouts in this segment performing a peasant pas de deux that displayed spunk through a certain devil-may-care savoir-faire of fleetness and spontaneity. O'Neil and Sherwood are special dancers.

I found Elizabeth Weigel engaging enough doing her Scottish country dances, but more interesting in her short moments as the Mad Hatter in Brittainia's "Alice in Wonderland" segment. Likewise for me, Arthur Reloj's Unicorn in "Alice" had a lusty whimsy that had just the right storybook fit. With Mr. Buddy Wright singing, a wonderfully rough seen-it-all-heard-it-all sound, and playing the string bass, and Mr. Marty Lewis's suave, lyric dancing, "Mr. Bojangles" once again took center stage in a poignant moment of star fading into history. Bandy, herself, was radiantly at center stage for a brief moment in Taniwha, her salute to the New Zealand people of Aotearoa. Kim Petros danced and Frank Falcioni played guitar on a tasty little number called "Strange Brew."

"The Last Rainforest" was the evening's piece de resistance. With grand, soulful singing by Donna Lynne, Sandy Selby and Buddy Wright, and a super collaboration with a band called Willows and the Eco Freaks, "Rainforest" was a major mini undertaking. Dancing, of course, is central to the piece's visual impact and storytelling and the dancing was good and appropriately revelatory. The band, however, featuring guitarist Will Rose (who also wrote the score), storyteller Sheree Rose, John Boone (bass), Frank Falcioni (guitar), Danny Hull (sax), Mark Salinas (drums) and Scott Sherman (trumpet) and the singing, are equally central to the impact "Rainforest" has as an entertainment with a message. Fortunately for audiences, "The Last Rainforest" is as noted for its entertainment value as what it has to say.

For information about future Taniwha Dance concerts and events call 775-322-9619.