Locals again show they can dance with the famous

By MARTY CLEAR
Published January 28, 2007

TAMPA - Moving Current could be considered a small modern dance organization, and Tampa is certainly not a national mecca for dance.

Yet, in its latest concert, Moving Current again demonstrated its growing national clout by attracting some impressive guest choreographers to town.

What's more heartening, though, is that the work of local choreographers outshone the work done by guests.

Two Seattle choreographers - Stephanie Skura, a major force in improvisational dance, and former Tampan Jody Kuehner - and Miami's Augusto Solodade all offered fine pieces. Solodade's "Some Things Revealed" was especially delightful, a sensual but serious piece with a Latin twinge imparted mostly through music.

On opening night, Skura's new work "If Katie Does It" offered striking moments but lacked a cohesive flavor that might have driven it to a higher level. The piece is structured but allows the dancers to improvise, so it may have come off differently in later shows.

Kuehner choreographed and performed a light-hearted solo piece called "Ferocious My Grit." It was fun, but punctuated by narration that didn't seem to make much sense. It had something to do with Madonna and her new album; perhaps Madonna devotees would understand.

Of the four works by local choreographers, three were revisions of older dances. Michael Foley had created "Devotion" for four male dancers in 1999, and here set in on four women. It came across so beautifully, so elegant and graceful, that it's hard to imagine it danced by men. (Men could have danced it just as gracefully, of course, but would have imparted a different mood).

The first of Cynthia Hennessy's dances was a reworking of "Wing Catchers," from 2003, a gorgeous and flowing piece for six dancers that proved to be one of the evening's highlights. Wonderful music by Devin Rice, and the deep, rich colors of the costumes (by Barbara and Erin Cardinal) complemented the piece beautifully.

Erin Cardinal's "Theory of Duality," performed by Brian Fidalgo and Brock Mattacchione, was the only new piece by a local choreographer. Its stated purpose was to explore the dichotomy of the male personality, and it worked fairly well on that level. It was more successful as pure, inventive dance that meshed well with the hypnotic music by Arvo Part and Philip Glass.

Hennessy's "Reach," from 2000, was only partially successful. The idea was to have announcers provide commentary to a dance piece as if it were an athletic competition. As a parody of sports announcers it was spot-on: Actors Robin Gordon and Jim Lennon, who wrote their dialogue, captured the inane blather perfectly. ("This piece is about life," Gordon intoned repeatedly.) But the narration proved a major distraction from the dance.

[Last modified January 28, 2007, 00:09:22]