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Review

No weak moments in diverse dance concert

By MARTY CLEAR
Published May 14, 2005

TAMPA - Now in its fifth year, Moving Current's New Grounds series seems to have reached a new level of maturity and sophistication.

New Grounds, which focuses on presenting choreographers whose work hasn't been previously seen in this area, is always a treat for people who love modern dance. It generally has an appealing sense of freshness and adventure because the choreographers are taking some of their first steps on a professional level.

But this year, with the series taking a slightly different direction, the concert (which will be repeated with two performances today) has a distinctive and intriguing flavor.

New Grounds has, in the past, focused on emerging choreographers. This year the emphasis is on choreographers from around Florida. Some are emerging in the traditional sense; they're just starting out, or they're making the leap from performing to creating dances.

But others are emerging geographically. They may have been produced fairly extensively, but now their works are being staged outside of their hometowns for the first time.

South Florida, and especially Miami's New World School of the Arts, is disproportionately represented this year, and the work is sometimes stunning. Most impressive is She Sank on Shallow Bank by Nikki Rollason and Clifton Childree, a spooky but funny stop-action black and white film with Rollason performing with stop-action animated "characters."

There's a hard-to-define sense in the concert that the South Florida artists work with a slightly different palette of choreographic colors than local dance audiences are used to. That's not to say that the out-of-town artists are better. In fact, two of the most thoroughly successful pieces come from choreographers trained at the University of South Florida.

Erin Taylor's See Ya Later is a massive amount of fun, a lively, energetic and colorful romp with eight dancers and a bunch of beanbag chairs. Great New Wave-ish music by Letigre helps, but Taylor's choreography and the unfettered performances by the whole cast are what really make the piece.

Maria Juan's Gazing from the Queue, a graceful and moody group piece with wonderful music by Yann Tierson, is another highlight.

The program is one of the longest ever for a Moving Current concert, with 13 pieces, and lasts well over two hours. Even the intermission is filled with dance, a silly but enjoyable improvisational trifle with a real-live organ grinder in the lobby who accompanies two dancing "monkeys."

Impressive moments abound, but perhaps most impressive is the concert's almost total lack of weaknesses. A few pieces lack focus and have obscure intent, but even in those pieces the performances are crisp and intense.

[Last modified May 14, 2005, 01:17:08]