Juilliard Dance Ensemble.

JUILLIARD THEATER FEBRUARY 15-18, 1996 REVIEWED BY GUS SOLOMONS JR

Student performances can test the mettle of even the masters' choreography, since dancers in training may not have the finesse to transcend minor choreographic lapses in the way seasoned performers offen can. Juilliard Dance Division's annual spring performances draw enthusiastic, packed houses of performers' families and friends and dance fans scouting stars of tomorrow, who can bank on energetic dancing from these talented students and a bonus of live music by the estimable Juilliard Orchestra (conducted by David Briskin).

Five women and three men give Benjamin Harkarvy's Mozart K. 458 a technically sure, well-drilled recitation. But the classic steps, tidily arranged to Mozart's String Quartet no. 17 ("The Hunt"), miss the playfulness of the music. Elgar's solemn Serenade in E Minor and Elegy for Strings lend Paul Taylor's 1983 Sunset a portentous aura, tempering the boisterousness of six war-bound soldiers and the four women they encounter in what might be their last flirtation. Taylor alumna Linda Kent set the piece and coached a spirited recital from the group, but ifs less than inspired Taylor; complex lifts are sometimes awkward; phrases, choppy. The expertise of Taylor's own company could soften the rough edges, but these budding artists aren't as convincing.

In this season's featured work, however, artistry and expert coaching coalesce in a truly impassioned rendering of Josb Limon's The Winged. Limon Company artistic director Carla Maxwell worked for four months with a cast of twenty-two to reconstruct a 1972 revision by Ruth Currier. (The original 1966 ballet was for twenty-eight dancers.) This expansive kinetic essay, inspired by the behaviors and flight of birds, translates human emotion into compellingly original movement, and Maxwell has imbued the dancers with style and passion that vivify Limon's legacy.

Waves of dancers, surging in canonic falls, reflect Limon's knack for moving large groups effectively--a forte of his mentor, Doris Humphrey. Large groups dissolve into smaller ones; a chevron of five slices a diagonal swath through others who are on the ground, preening. Flight formations weave across the stage, swirl into little eddies, then converge into a throbbing circle of fluttering arms and skittering feet.

Earthly rituals continue the avian metaphor. Newlyweds embrace tenderly, charged with anticipation in "Nuptial Flight." Later, in "Sky Rite," another couple consummates mating with sensual lifts. Partners in "Borrowed Wings" share a more seasoned affection, buoyed by a bit of tongue-in-cheek musical schmaltz. Although the dance was originally choreographed in silence, this revival features an energetic, intelligent new score by Juilliard composer Jon Magnussen which supports the rhythms and creates an orchestral counterpart to the movement, enhancing the theme without mimicry.

In an intense "Duel" companions must forcibly restrain rival cocks in mortal combat. Female scavengers gnaw at their own limbs in a demented "Feast of Harpies." Solos for mythic creatures--"Eros" (Roger C. Jeffrey), "Sphinx" (Toskiko Oiwa), and "Pegasus" (Jason McDole)--seethe with technical power and dramatic force. Clifton Taylor's vivid lighting flashes streaks of sunlight through clouds, and birdlike costumes by Willa Kim--rich russet, green, and blue bodysuits with feathery trim and beaklike visors--reinforce the dance's intriguing blend of animal instinct and human nature.