BRING IN THE MEN!

BRING IN THE MEN!

TAU DANCE THEATER 

HAWAI'I THEATRE HONOLULU, HAWAII JUNE 16 AND 17, 2000

REVIEWED BY PAULA DURBIN

For the past three years, Peter Rockford Espiritu has brought down the curtain on Tau Dance Theater's season with a display of the diversity Hawaii has nurtured. This year's finale, Men Dancing 2000, followed the time-honored format Espiritu had previously borrowed in 1998 from modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn. While not altogether faithful to Shawn's original intent, the concert provided a fresh look at the male experience in dance and in life as well as the dizzyingly high standards men have set in the genres showcased.

Rising from the orchestra pit to open the first act were the young men of Halau Hula O Na Pua Kukui, directed by hula master Ed Collier. Outfitted in hau tree fiber skirts and maile leaves, the group celebrated the sport of surfing with an exuberant kahiko (ancient) hula. The macho swagger to their almost balletic precision contrasted with Tony Conjugacion's softer auana (modern) tribute to his particular hula lineage later in the show. Exploring the facets of male bonding were Espiritu's 3!--Trilogy, a tightly synchronized acrobatic romp by what seemed an inseparable schoolyard trio, and David DeBlieck's pas de deux Holding Strong, which developed an encounter into a deeply emotional erotic attachment. Maui's Gene Kelly-like David Ward, partnering a ladder (as in "of success") and a chair (as in "of the board"), used his velvet moves, endless flexibility and great sense of humor to tell the story of a hardworking executive who loses everything when adversity strikes.

The most ambitious choreography on the program was Camouflage by Darryl Thomas, an alumnus of both the University of Hawaii and Pilobolus, now on the faculty at Western Oregon State University. This video game-inspired combat pitted four ninjas against as many rivals in a bombardment of hip-hop virtuosity so physically intense that, at times, it resembled a World Wrestling Federation event. Although the students Thomas brought from Oregon's West Coast had spent a year perfecting the split-second timing of the original work set for ten men and one woman, they somehow adjusted to the reduced casting in one rehearsal and easily tossed off their rapid-fire tours de force without a glitch. Even so, the gasp from the audience was audible when three men maneuvered so that their knees joined to form a surface on which another landed from a flying jump

Also a showstopper was Derek Daniels in Me, Myself and I, a tribute to Bob Fosse. Daniels can do just about anything, and his laser-edged ballet technique only emphasized his work's in-your-face sexuality, which included a strip down to his dance belt.

No one envied veteran artisan Greg Lizenbery, who had to follow this studmuffin phenomenon. But in Donald McKayle's Twilight, a contemplation of age, Lizenbery's eloquent extensions and masterly contractions proved a poignant balance.

Out of place in this otherwise all-star athletic lineup was the drag group The Pleiades, appearing after each piece of choreography. While some in the audience obviously appreciated their antics, they seemed to perpetuate the very stereotype people like Shawn had struggled to overcome. "Men Prancing" could have been the title of the far-too-frequent interludes that the genuine artists on stage were hard-put to make us forget.

But for his encore, Espiritu returned with his signature Ku'u Home o Kahalu'u, choreographed by the late Earnest Morgan to Jerry Santos's composition. A tribute to the hula composed entirely of classical ballet vocabulary, this haunting piece was yet another reminder of the cultures that have melded so beautifully in Hawaii--and more evidence that dance is definitely a man's job.