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While many people in the U.S. dance world are busy slapping labels on new work or trying to decide whether ballet is dead or alive, two choreographers in the Washington, D.C. area are blithely going the business of creating dance without paying the least bit of attention to these debates.
Disinclined to carry the hem of either Balanchine or Graham, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and Bowen McCauley Dance are both strong companies dedicated to following their own unique paths. If Lerman is food for thought, Lucy Bowen McCauley is pure confection. The Jerry Seinfeld of choreography, McCauley, who has been presenting her own pieces for only a year or two, uses razor-sharp ballet trained dancers, (she frequently pilfers members of the Washington Ballet) and has them doing squats, pelvic thrusts, tugging each other's noses, and generally running about the stage in hilarious and witty anarchy - sort of "ballet-unbound." She manages to prevent it all from looking vulgar or coarse: instead it's rather like seeing a beautiful man in a tuxedo loosen his tie, kick off his shoes and boogie - he's having fun but still looks elegant. For example, in What'll Ya'ave Luv, the piece presented at the Gunston Theatre this summer, Jennifer Olin, Beverly Prahl and Ingrid Zimmer sport chic chignons and sophisticated black gowns as they brandish silver goblets to a suite of medieval tavern songs by Purcell. With crisp, perfect arabesques and lovely port de bras, the women drank, burped and reeled around, ending in a heap on the stage: try to imagine Grace Kelly on a bender and you'll get the picture. Two-Bas danced by McCauley and Peter Stark is a pas de deux to an amazingly supple tuba-piano duet. Again, her ability to mix elegant and odd movement, including the successful use of a headstand tripod, was evident. Burleycue is a charming take on Telemann with Matthew Gayton, Galeet BenZion Westreich, Prahl and Olin mirroring the lovely music by initiating and repeating a series of movements, then dividing into a series of pairs, trios and solos, exploring their bodies and the power of movement with the wonder of audacious children. No blatant jokes here, just diamond precision dancing. McCauley is clearly a choreographer to watch and is starting to broaden the scope of her work. She has begun to sift through the spectrum of human emotions with a work in progress Between Two Worlds. Opening with a group of dancers wringing their hands, jerking their heads, lost in a limbo, Roger Plaut, a dynamic and emotional dancer, approaches each one, trying and failing to connect. Left alone, perched on the ledge of sanity, Plaut performs a neurotic, twitchy solo that takes your breath away. |