September 16, 2007

Vox Dance Theatre hard to fathom
Review: Collaborative work at Cal State Long Beach lofty goal with mixed results.
By LAURA BLEIBERG
The Orange County Register

For the fall concert of her Vox Dance Theatre, choreographer Sarah Swenson invited friends and associates to join her at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater in Long Beach, on the artistic theory that more makes merrier.

The Lloyd Rodgers Group, a new music ensemble led by Cal State Fullerton professor Rodgers, opened the program's second half with "Discourse on the Measurement of Tones" (2006), a minimalist composition for six instruments.

Swenson's other collaborators came from her association with Saint Joseph Ballet; she teaches at the Santa Ana school, which provides free dance lessons and a myriad of social services to low-income children. Two Saint Joseph students and two alumni dancers were featured in Swenson's latest work, "Mitakuye Oyas'in," and the Lloyd Rodgers Group played live accompaniment on that piece (Rodgers' composition, "Time Certain"). In addition, Swenson commissioned a new piece from Saint Joseph Ballet artistic director Melanie Rios Glaser.

The Saint Joseph contingent appeared in "Mitakuye Oyas'in," and they fit seamlessly alongside Swenson's own dancers. The program notes explained that the dance's title is an expression from the Lakota language meaning that all earth's living things are related.

Swenson's references to these concepts, however, were difficult to extract. Swenson's movement language flirted with some of these ideas – dancers held their arms suggesting birds in flight – but the choreographer failed to establish noticeable links or relationships among her dancers. They walked about on half-point with bent knees and there was, toward the end, a display of large jété leaps. Swenson favored manipulating the body for its abstract, pictorial qualities, rather than for its power to communicate emotions or ideas. I could discern no through-line guiding the viewer from beginning to end. Dance phrases chugged along jerkily from one pose to the next.

Guest artist Tamsin Carlson, borrowed for this concert from Rudy Perez's ensemble, was a standout soloist. Her every step had a forceful, viscous quality that brought needed clarity to the choreography. Edgar Arreola, of the Saint Joseph alumni company, was terrific in a solo of commanding jumps and vigorous gestures.

Melanie Rios Glaser's "No Talking" was the night's other new piece. It was really just a little doodle of a work for Glaser and Swenson, composed through improvisation. Yet, it was the more rewarding. The women entered in lockstep, leaning backwards and wearing serious expressions. Their gestures were mirrors or echoes of the other. They would break apart, start a new theme, but then return to one another's embrace. Glaser, who has not performed onstage in three years, danced with an earthy quality and articulated her quirky movements with fullness. Hopefully, this will be the first of more onstage opportunities for her.

The Rodgers Group's "Discourse" was a fascinating gambit through tonal variations. The electric violin, sensuously played by Gary Hung, tended to overpower the other instruments (percussion, bass, keyboard and trumpet). But each section proceeded gingerly into new territory, making minute changes to a repetitive format.

Finally, the program included "Fimmine," Swenson's signature piece to a recording of Concerto for Violin & Orchestra by Philip Glass. Seven women in wedding gowns ran about the stage, stopped to strike poses suggesting terror. They grimaced or shrieked silently. In the final section, they wore white bras and slips and stared out into the audience aggressively. Each had a red sash about her waist as a colorful accent marking the impending loss of virginity, whch was the way I read this.

While I inwardly applauded the piece's feminist intent, Swenson's execution, simultaneously blatant and bland, left this viewer squirming.

Vox Dance Theatre & The Lloyd Rodgers Group

When: Sept. 15

Where: Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater, Cal State Long Beach.

Continues: 2 p.m., Sept. 16

How much: $18 general admission, $15 students, seniors and Dance Resource Center members.

Call: 562-438-1796