Tintinnabulation

This dance season, company ProArteDanza celebrated its 10th year anniversary. On Friday, I attended their recital at the Fleck Dance Theatre, a retrospective of their past output.

Act I comprised of a full reprise of their 2010 Dora-winning ...in between... Several vignettes had dancers moving in and out of cohesive movements into disjointed actions. This also occurred as in and out-members of various groupings. The company's style: a dynamic fusion of ballet techniques with a contemporary sensibility was on full display. There were several humorous moments that had the audience laughing including a "follow-the-leader" scene that resembled kids at play. Two large mats made effective props for the troupe: walls for watchers; beds for cavorting lovers or distressed souls; sofas to rest or leap on; even as a "gym mat" for two male dancers to egg each other to ever more daring jumps.

Act II had 9 excerpts from various productions. I had feared that it would not be as engaging with a "So You Think You Can Dance" hodge podge. Though it definitely had the excitement of an "all thriller no filler" show, act II still had meaningful moments. Videos of dance practice projected onto a front scrim in between scenes tied the past to the present. It was also nice to see both the evolution and versatility of the company from the kinetic and angular fractals: a pattern of chaos (2011) and Subsistence (2006) to the classical Unfinished 32 (2005) and Beethoven's 9th - 1st Movement (2009). There were cheers for choreographers Robert Glumbek and Roberto Campanella, who participated in some excerpts including In Full Bloom (2010), a funny examination of aging dancers/men.