Im Puls - Tanz in Wien '95.

Im Puls--Tanz ("Impulse-Dance"), the contemporary performance series of Vienna's twelfth international Summer Dance Workshop, proved immensely popular with a public more accustomed to classical dance. Presentations by ten dance groups sold ninety-six percent of available seats, making this festival the most commercially successful yet.

The artistic level of all the troupes was high but I was especially taken with La La La Human Steps, from Montreal, with its new work 2; Compagnie Cre-Ange, from Paris, with its duo Belladone; Compagnie Ismael Ivo, from Stuttgart, with a new Othello, and Finnish National Ballet, which premiered Jorma Uotinen's Hallayo--La Nuit Gelee.

La La La Human Steps is best compared to a cyclone: the dancers' bodies seem to take this spiral form and move through the air with unbelievable and frightening speed. With 2, director Edouard Lock demands unusually strong physical conditioning, and this alone is fascinating. But so are his various themes, which include aging, a consequential diminishing will to live, and dying. His pas de deux are so aggressive that you are compelled to turn inward to examine your personal feelings of birth and death. 2 was a great success with the Viennese public.

Compagnie Cre-Ange presented a charming and engaging duo, Belladone, danced by choreographer Charles Cre-Ange and his wife, Christie Lehuede. With the stage floor covered by a grid of strong wire cages filled with live white rats, plus twelve small cages containing live birds hanging overhead, these two wonderful movers danced separately, then increasingly with each other. To a mixed-bag tape of contemporary and classical music, they lovingly and poignantly did their beautiful best to join together.

Compagnie Ismael Ivo brought a political message with Othello, a joint work by ivo and Johann Kresnik which premiered July 1 in Stuttgart. As the company was composed only of men, the familiar story concerning betrayal and revenge, interracial relationships, and the treatment of foreigners was presented in a new way.

Ivo is a beautiful dancer and a fine actor besides. As Othello, he portrayed a noble and God-fearing man even though the work as a whole is brutal. His animal magnetism paired beautifully with the sensitive and moving Desdemona of American dancer Daniel Chait. Although having bare-chested male performers play the female roles seemed odd at first, the dancers' convincing identification with their roles overcame all hesitation, enabling the spectator to concentrate on the characters. This Othello is a grandiose work.

Finnish National Ballet presented the intriguing Hallayo--La Nuit Gelee ("The Frozen Night"), Uotinen's newest evening-length work. The first section, "Halla," features Uotinen and the gorgeous Nina Hyvarinen in a magical landscape peopled with mythical figures. Both dancers are strong stage personalities, and Hyvarinen's beautiful dancing contrasted to startling effect with the striking movements of Uotinen's individual style. The second part of the evening, "7 Women," was inspired by an old Finnish folk song about a woman who was imprisoned for one hundred years, then freed. The group of women, in evening dresses, dance with a single man and eventually revenge themselves on him. A simple tale, but effectively presented.

The Internationale Tanzwochen Wien, to give the workshop its full name, was founded by Ismael Ivo and Karl Regensburger. In addition to the performance series, it offers dance instruction and several other projects. More than 3,000 participants, ranging from students to professionals, took part last summer. Viewed together, the events are having a tremendous impact on the dance scene here, making modern and contemporary dance at home in Austria.