NEW DIMENSIONS IN VIDEO DESIGN
                In Jenkins Dance's New "Light Moves"    
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of Nov. 4-11, 2011
                                                                  Vol. 14, No. 19           
          With the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, it’s never just about modern dance, but rather about a multi-faceted experience in culture. And the net result is a collaboration to remember, the sort of experience and discovery that makes you grateful to surround yourself with the riches of Bay Area creativity.
          Jenkins’ latest, the arresting evening-length “Light Moves,” is a case in point, offering a new live score by the Paul Dresher Ensemble working the pit, and the most extraordinary new video-projection designs by Naomie Kremer, of a sort not even seen in richly endowed ballet companies today. The projections are best described as dynamic mosaics, sometimes shifting from galaxies in outer space to metallic micrographs in color, with internal elements constantly on the move like single-cell organisms. Kremer's video techniques set a new gold standard to be heeded by other designers whom she has left in her wake.
          So the four couples that dance in “Light Moves” are but one element, and not always the most significant, though they are meticulously rehearsed in well-coordinated moves---sometimes all together, sometimes every one distinct. It’s a no-star ensemble, with nary a weak link discernible in the line. Jenkins’ choreography is well known here after 39 bare-foot seasons locally showing both bodily strength and fluidity of movement, closely attuned to the beat and flavor of the music. The performers join up, seemingly spontaneously, in various permutations, going from one encounter to another, then flowing neatly away.
         Dresher’s music uses a combination of electronic synthesizers and guitars for a music with a minimalist leaning, spelled at the midpoint by his piano pieces in a style recalling Villa-Lobos. Narrations too come into play, with texts on the nature of light created by Michael Palmer. When debuted Nov. 3 at the Novellus Theater, the work ran 66 minutes, without intermission.
          “Light Moves,” new work, with Jenkins choreography and Dresher music, At the Yerba Buena Gardens, S.F., Nov. 3-5. For info: (415) 978-ARTS, or go online.

        ©Paul Hertelendy 2011
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           Paul Hertelendy has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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