DANCE FEST INVIGORATES SUMMER DOLDRUMS
           With a New Company, and a Private Named Brandon 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of July 23-30, 2011
                                                                  Vol. 13, No. 118
              Were it not for the West Wave Festival, summer dance in the Bay Area might be as  dead  as the cemeteries of nearby Colma.
            Now in its 20th season, West Wave can point to 393 world-premiere dances plus 2,000+ dancers, presenting an extraordinary variety including even some ballet.
            The opening repertory program July 22 spotlighted the largest array of new works, with varying ensembles of four or eight dancers drawn from local choreographer Amy Seiwert’s promising new Imagery modern-dance performing group. Seiwert however brought in three guests from as far away as Louisville and Philadelphia to unveil  their concepts, broadening the spectrum. Although no one wore toe shoes nor danced on pointe, many of the works showed strong ballet training and movement. And the pieces were sexy, humorous, confident.
            Does every San Francisco dance review begin and end with Private Freeman, the man also known as Brandon? He was prominent in three of the pieces, none more memorable than in Susan Roemer’s “Images That Fade.” Here Freeman’s moves turned downright poetic, flowing with an easy grace departing from the mechanical playbacks of many colleagues. Although not one of the biggest on stage, he partners well, whether holding crisply to the beat, or merely holding up a tall woman companion, consistently  benefiting from his athleticism and discipline. The three women with him were all ballet trained, as was obvious from the turns and extensions decorating the opus.
            The most arresting image of the night was the opening of Seiwert’s “Trust to Fall,” with Andrea Basile surfing precariously on shifting waves that turned out to be undulating bodies. The 22-minute dance---the night’s longest---was most moving in the languid  slow section, resonating like a sultry tropical night, with the romanticism of four closely-clutching couples. Less effective was the repeated gesture of women in mid-air, pedaling bicycle-like toward the audience.
            “Cigarettes” by Louisville Ballet’s Adam Hougland was a dance-theater piece, both whimsical and witty. The ballerina (Sarah Bukowski), wheeled out inside a refrigerator with a rack of prized high-heeled shoes, was a surreal conceit offering  its share of laughs as Bukowski twisted the three males around her little finger and I think even around toes. And along the way, a tightly coordinated allegro duo by Ben Needham Wood and Gabriel Williams took one’s breath away with its sheer rapid-fire precision.
            Hot love-making was the focus of “The Occurring Dream” by Pennsylvania Ballet’s Matt Neenan as couples lolled and rolled about the floor, holding tight. But far more memorable  were the intricacies of fast-stepping group moves by the octet, with split-second coordination  to avoid stabbing supine figures with dancers’ fast-flashing heels. Somehow, it all worked out, with the Colombian-born Bukowski---a tall, muscular and assertive figure I found imposing on stage---once again a stand-out performer.
            To paraphrase the song, I could have watched Freeman and Bukowski dance all night long, and still have asked for more.
            This being one of the inaugural performances by the Seiwert company, one was left expectantly looking forward to future performances.
            The opening-night West Wave gala July 19 was, in contrast, a disappointment, a tossed salad of low-tech dances lasting a mere half hour. The best of these was Maurya Kerr’s dance-theater piece for three women and a man, “Buck,” played in an evocative way, as if in a ritual, with movement as a direct reaction to the audio. The piece was punctuated by quirky twists that had me crying out for a massage by the end.
            The best rehearsed by far was the closely coordinated high-energy mother-daughter pairing of Annie and A.J. Parr in “Led.” The ubiquitous Ms.Seiwert also contributed an Appalachia theme for a close-clinging couple, “Veronica and Vincent.”
            THE SPACE---The West Wave performances  are given in the unpretentious Z Space, which was known as the vibrant multi-arts site Theater Artaud until the latter’s regrettable financial demise. 
            West Wave Dance Festival with four new works July 22-24; therafter, three other programs through July 31. Z Space (formerly Theater Artaud), 450 Florida, San Francisco. For info: (866) 558-4238, 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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