The Body Speaks, May 13, 2005, San Jacinto College South

I went back to college last Friday night. Ok, it was someone else's college, but since all college dance productions have a certain flavor, I was reminded of my own college days. But enough about me. I admit to being pleasantly surprised by the quality of the SJCS dancers and the choreography. The show opened with the strongest piece, Rebecca Valls's "On the Wing." Unlike in Maximal Schnapper, these dancers were clearly meant to be birds. The eight dancers were fearless in their representation of chicks begging for food and adults flying in formation. I've seen this dance once before at Miller, but if I recall correctly, there were only six dancers that time. The additional dancers added to the effectiveness of the flock and chick tableaux. (ooh, French) White rods were occasionally used to extend the dancers "wingspans," to simple but elegant effect. "Nowhere Else to Go," choreographed by Victoria Loftin in collaboration with the dancers, was a powerful piece that I interpreted as being about refugees. The dance starts and ends with three dancers on the floor in separate pools of light. In between, the teeming masses stream across the stage in a fashion similar to what I saw in Arthropodic Animal: Insecta, although this time it was used to a more sinister effect as the dancers seemed to be fleeing something. Something you don't see every day in America is real flamenco dancing. "Fuerzas Liberadas," performed with exquisite style by Crystal Reyes, was a standout piece in the show. The choreography, by Sarita Salinas, was a tad underdeveloped; Ms. Reyes's movements did not make full use of the space, but she was so captivating it (almost) didn't matter. "...another beginning..." was awarded Gala recognition at the American College Dance Festival (2005). Michelle Manzanales's piece about exclusion transformed to acceptance had some nice moments, but structurally I didn't think it was as interesting as "Nowhere Else to Go." Crystal Audas did a nice job as the outsider who eventually wins over the crowd. Some of the other dances lacked clear emotional intent. Not all dances need to be narrative, but in some of the pieces I found myself wondering what the point was. "The Ticket," choreographed and danced by the lovely Fina Reisinger and Kristi Morrison, left me bewildered when it ended with one of the dancers putting her hand over the other's, because prior to that there had been very little interaction between the two of them. "Journey," by Susan Oliver, was well danced but needed more tension. "The Gathering," another piece by Susan Oliver, startly promisingly with cowled dancers moving to eerie Celtic music, but never devolped much beyond that and was unsuitable as the closing number for the show. In fact, there really wasn't a piece on the program that would have been a strong closer, but I would have put "...another beginning..." first and moved "On the Wing" to the end.