Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.

Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center Houston, Texas February 14-15, 2003

At last Houston has a contemporary dance company on par with its symphony, opera, and ballet companies. Dominic Walsh Dance Theater rocked the new Hobby Center with its debut performance.

A thirteen-year veteran of Houston Ballet, Walsh peopled his new company with fellow HB dancers and some outstanding independent dancers, most notably the powerful Paola Georgudis, who shone in Mario Zambrano's world premiere of Bio*Lin. In dance-theater style, the work used pedestrian movement, dancer vocalization, and a live camera projecting close-ups of the dancers' bodies. It was a moving, thought-provoking duet about the trials and tribulations of coupledom, and IT MAY HAVE GIVEN MORE THAN ONE COUPLE PAUSE ON VALENTINE'S DAY.

Australian independent choreographer Natalie Weir brought excerpts of two works: Beyond Tears and Insight, about a man's sleeplessness and his inner thoughts. Not since the days of Fred Astaire have we seen a dancer move so smoothly with a lit cigarette.

Ben Stevenson contributed his Endangered Species as a solo for HB dancer Mauricio Cafiete. The solo for a sad clown who partners life-size mannequins seemed more about gimmickry than choreography. More innovative was The Itch, danced by Houston Ballet company soloists Ian Casady and the lithe Sara Webb on pointe and highlighted by elegantly commingled lifts. The Itch shows Walsh's evolution as a dancemaker, although his 1998 Flames of Eros still holds up well as one of his most complex dances. But it was his most recent work, Katharsis, that brought down the house. Here, Walsh came to grips with both story-telling and contemporary movement, while maintaining his classical line.

Walsh shows extreme talent for choreography. The pacing of the show was swift, the evening not exceptionally long.