Dance Reviews

Nov 15, 2005 - University of Nevada Reno’s 2003 Dance Concert with Lakota Sioux Dance Theatre

By Jack Neal

There was something about the recent University of Nevada Reno 2003 Spring Dance Concert that reminded me of the tug-of-war modern-dance icon Martha Graham, a foe of classical ballet, expressed with conviction up to just before the sunset of her long career.

As reported by dance critic Clive Barnes, in 1931 Graham crossed dialectical swords in a public debate with the mighty Russian choreographer Michel Fokine with Graham saying in exasperation, "We shall never understand one another." Never say never. In time Graham became more amenable to the virtues of classical ballet eventually proclaiming, that there "were in the end only two kinds of dance: good and bad."

Given her late-term embracing of dance diversity, it's my guess that Graham would have been exhilarated by what was experienced by the full houses at the Redfield Proscenium Theatre which witnessed the five-day run of UNR's College of Human and Community Sciences and the Department of Health Ecology dance concert that ended last Sunday afternoon (5/11/2003). The implication, intended, is that the program was a smashing success. And that it was.

Diversity was the name of the concert's game. The program whose first half included nine quite different dance episodes designed by eight different choreographers, was danced mostly by students and they were fresh, wonderfully turned out, and exceptionally skilled. Barbara Land and Teddy Araas were the event's production coordinators and what Land and Araas have so nobly and thrillingly put together let no man or woman put asunder.

"Blank," choreographed by Alexander Van Alstyne set to the music of Scream, is steely in its emotionlessness and stark in its illusions fostered by its six all in-black dancers. "Blank," the program's opener, is typical of the creativity and freshness of all the dance that comprised the more-or-less local dancers who are the heart of the Land-Araas dance theater. What is the most crucial asset for these artists is neither money nor a particularly striking setting, all played out in profile before various colors projected onto a cyclorama, but incandescent imagination and there was lots of that.

It was wonderful to see once again the work of noted Hollywood film, main-room casino stage show and Nevada Festival Ballet choreographer Maggie Banks. Her "Excerpts from 'Coppelia'" for seven young ballerinas clad in either bright red or brilliant yellow filmy and feminine costumes was lyric and lovely. The two Barbara Land choreographic offerings, "Forever," a rapturous piece danced exquisitely by Kelly McCafferty and Alissa Tibesar to the romantic "Gira con me questa notte," and "Carmen," danced to the Habanera as sung by Maria Callas, were haunting ("Forever") and exciting ("Carmen"). Choreographer Robert Schultz's "I Will Be Free," Kristen Avansino's "Beneath the Surface," and Eddie Armendizo's "Under My Skin" were each unique and offered absorbing, highly creative moments in physical expression.

Guest artists, three from the University of Utah Modern Dance Department performing a very interesting "static mobility" and two, Tess Hooley and Zeb Nole from Nevada Ballet Theatre (Las Vegas) dancing a nicely managed Grand Pas Classique (music by Auber) were excellent additions to an entirely first rate set of dance experiences.

The Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre appeared after intermission. Colorful of costume and exotic of music and dance, the Lakota Sioux are a very solid ethnic troupe without being either brilliantly revelatory to their culture or especially gripping to watch. They, like many troupes who travel and do many programs, hint at being slightly commercial (yes, they had CDs for sale they would autograph). The sales pitch from on stage, once considered gauche, has become so commonplace the fact that it's tasteless has been lost in the shuffle. That it tarnishes ethnic dance (or ethnic anything) is the most damaging aspect of brash salesmanship. A little Lakota Sioux Dance Theatre goes along way. They were on stage 45 minutes, which was only about ten minutes past their welcome. That's not bad for a program sporting so much that was really invigorating to watch.