DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM.

DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM 

THE KENNEDY CENTER WASHINGTON, D.C. MARCH 30-APRIL 4, 1999

Celebrating its thirtieth-anniversary season, Dance Theatre of Harlem brought its usual pizzazz, novelty, exceptional dancers of different cultures and colors, and multicultural inspiration to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 30. A high-quality series!

Bugaku, George Balanchine's exotic and erotic choreography inspired by the Gagaku musicians and dancers of Japan, opened the program. Over six feet tall on pointe, striking and talented twenty-year-old Alicia Graf joined long-time DTH stalwart Donald Williams in the lead roles. The stylized public and private ritual mating dance culminates in the consummation of a marital sexual initiation. Competently performed, the dancers' rendition forsakes the subtlety and fragility of Mr. B's original choreography. Willowy Graf, and her attendants, did capture the porcelain-delicate articulation of the traditional Japanese woman. But the ritual ambience faltered when attendants undressed the female to a bikini and the male to underwear, and later dressed them. Although the male dancers swaggered like samurai, the spark of passion barely flickered when the lover embraced his partner in a horizontal position as one of her legs extended upright over his shoulder.

The world premiere of the expanded version of South African Suite, by DTH's artistic director Arthur Mitchell and former DTH principal dancers Augustus Van Heerden and Laveen Naidu, joyously reflected the playful and majestic spirit of South Africans despite the troubles in their country. Performing onstage, the ebullient Soweto String Quartet (cellist, violist, and two violinists as well as a tabla player and a multi-instrument percussionist) received even more applause than the fine dancers. The visiting musicians (on CD with Zebra Crossing) have been in residence with DTH and plan to perform with the company during its fall season.

The music and dance reflect various South African cultures: a lighthearted duet and threesome dance to a Northern European jiglike sound; Nicole Gayles's bows to the tabla player and performs an Indian Kuchipudi-like dance; and male dancers' portray Africa's warriors. The "Amathu" section did not project the strength of the renowned fighters such as the Zulu.

The ethereal appearance of Graf's agile, fluid solo, "Ukhololok'ssa" ("Enduring Spirit"), is amplified by its setting on the second tier of an upstage shadowed riser.

Although most group scenes are too busy, the suite concludes with a dramatic, uniquely staged group number. About half of the twenty-four dancers move in silhouette against a red "sky" on two platforms as other performers dance on the lighted stage apron.

The opening night of a weeklong run concluded with John Taras's version of the magical Firebird, admirably danced by Andrea Long. Giving a sharper and more taut interpretation than that of the DTH paragon of the role, Stephanie Dabney, Long was fiery and shimmering. Her rapid bourrees propelled her, fluttering and soaring across the stage, and her airborne finale dazzled the audience.

The second DTH program featured Mitchell's Manifestations, premiered in 1975. Ramon Thielen met the charismatic and acrobatic demands of the snake role. DTH also performed Marius Petipa's Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, and Geoffrey Holder's Dougla.