Philadanco.

June 20-25, 1995 Reviewed by Alice Naude

Philadanco's dancers are a miracle of skill and energy. They work in a range of idioms most companies can't even try to encompass. And, as an institution, Philadanco has long served as a home for contemporary African American choreographers. The company has built its success on the ability to do everything. But in its New York season, a part of the troupe s twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations, the most resonant dancing happened when the dancers were given a chance to do their own thing.

This opportunity came in The Walkin, Talkin, Signifying Blues Hips, Sacred Hips, Lowdown Throwdown, choreographed by Urban Bush Women founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. The piece is a celebration of female power and its signifier, the female butt. In the opening section, Hope Boykin dances alone using movements that seem to erupt out of her hips. The performance is 3S much for herself as for the audience, and sets up a duality of public and private power that is explored through the rest of the piece. Boykin is an inspired dancer, strong and incredibly light on her feet. Her ability to personalize the choreography's combination of modern dance and traditional African dance transmits genuine feeling.

Other standout performances include Lynne Barre, whose leggy movement and poise create moments of captivating stillness; Kim Y. Bears, who dances with firm authority; and Monique Rhodriquez, whose quick steps and tight shimmies exude a street-smart confidence. The choreography in Walkin, Talkin is amazingly lacking in ego. It provides the dancers with a context in which to strut their stuff and represent the complexity of women's lives.

An excerpt from Bamm, choreographed by Donald Byrd, also examines gender issues, this time the competitive nature of male-female relationships. Its movement is fiercely athletic, full of fast, circling steps. This is a world of hard bodies caught In a power struggle. In the middle of the piece, Bears and Brian Brooks actually dance their way into a fight--a fight so evenly matched that for the most part they are locked motionless. As Bamm closes, the dancers repeatedly walk toward and away from the audience. The movement evokes balance, and there is a sense that some understanding has been reached between the sexes. But a pounding Mio Morales score in the background reminds us that the struggle will continue.

Gender politics resurface in a tribal environment in The Element in Which It Takes Place, a 1987 ballet by Milton Myers. Danced to music by Philip Glass and Meredith Monk, the work depicts a deflowering ritual in which a man chooses a woman from among a tribe's virgins. The story is presented energetically and without judgment, and Edward Franklin, the Chosen Man, gives a powerful, mature performance. But Myers's choreography is unbelievably literal, and the emotional content of the work is acted out more than it is danced.

Philadanco's talent for presenting big, energetic emotions is at its best in excerpts from Pretty Is Skin Deep Ugly Is to the Bone, choreographed by Talley Beatty to music by Earth, Wind, and Fire and Quincy Jones. This breathtaking piece starts on a high note and doesn't come down. There's some fabulous, classic jazz dancing that might look dated if it were not presented with such polish and precision. The male dancers are particularly strong. Their jazzwalks knock your socks off, and their barrel jumps send them soaring through the air like sky divers in free-fall. The virtuosity in this piece combined with Zollar's more emotionally complex work shows Philadanco to be a company that can do more than just anything. It can represent the possibilities of the human spirit through dance.