RDT stumbles despite strong performances

By Michael Rog     4/22/10 7:00pm

Rice Dance Theatre's spring performance, Body Songs, was a decent showcase, but the program struggled - and failed - to live up to the quality of RDT's past performances.Mostly, the show suffered from a lack of innovation. Choreography seemed mostly drawn from a shallow collection of movements, musical selections offered little variety and visual designs lacked intentionality and coherence. Furthermore, the company's technique left much to be desired - movements in most of the dances were unpolished, and the ensembles were frequently far out of sync.

The show was not without its saving moments, however.

"Balanchinian Cascades," choreographed by Baker College junior and RDT veteran Hilary Koo, was a pure joy to watch. The dance was set to Philip Glass's "In the Upper Room," a stirring minimalist ballet on piano and strings, providing a welcome departure from the lyric-saturated pop that swallowed most of the rest of the show. Koo managed to breathe meaning into every movement, and the dance flowed from each moment to the next with utmost musicality.

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Dancers Taylor Coon, a mathematics graduate student, Emily Jacob and Rachel Mercer-Smith, both Sid Richardson College seniors, performed with captivating grace, both in this piece and every other time they took the stage. Their technique was near-flawless; every motion was clean, intentional and completely controlled. The three made up a veritable dream team: Each boasts years of dance experience, and it definitely showed. Hermione Gilpin's simple, thoughtful lighting design perfectly accentuated the choreography and musical motifs.

"Portraits of a Princess" was uncomplicated, unique and quite polished. Set to music by Two Star Symphony and Michelle Shocked, RDT Artistic Director Rosie Trump's choreography incorporated a pleasing variety of unique movements, audible squeals, gasps and giggles and even simple props - apples and small tin pails balanced on the dancers' heads and arms through out the piece.

Lastly, the dance that most people will remember and talk about for weeks is "Fab Four/Fierce Five," choreographed by Wiess College sophomore Stephanie Dunlop. It's unusual to see hip-hop in RDT shows, and this was a case of hip-hop done very, very well. Dunlop's choreography was funky, energetic, never repetitive and extremely enjoyable. RDT newcomer Lena Silva, a McMurtry College freshman, really sparkled in this one - figuratively and literally - bringing an energy and attitude to the performance that was clearly contagious both to her fellow dancers and to the audience. The whole ensemble was sexy and crisp, and the audience was sure to find itself grooving along and having a blast.

There were great moments in the other pieces, too. The opening look of "Going Nowhere" was stunning, and the solo choreography in the middle of "Reverie" was thoughtful and effortlessly executed with believable emotion. Indeed, the whole evening was dotted with a few measures here and there where the technique was strong, the energy was high and the choreography was engaging. But, sadly, these moments were too few and far between to really elevate the quality of the experience.

Audiences would better appreciate a RDT show that is less stylistically, musically and visually constrained. I'd like to see a program of music selections with no lyrics to limit creativity, lighting designs where pink and green never, ever coexist and really unique choreography that transcends the same-old, same-old quasi-ballet RDT style we're so used to seeing. And, above all, the technique must be solid. That means completing the choreography far in advance, allowing ample time for cleaning the moves and honing group unison.

There's a lot of talent in the ranks of Rice Dance Theatre. Body Songs was not their best effort; hopefully the best is soon to come.

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