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August 14, 2002
One out of three ain't bad
By Susan Walker
The fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists, running through Sunday at Buddies in Bad times Theatre, is not likely to be the occasion to see art of the life-changing variety. But if one performance out of three in each hour-long series manages to entertain or awe you with its beauty, then you haven't wasted $12.
Such was the case when the Travesty Group, from Philadelphia, danced a trio on the theme of three. Dancers Rebecca Malcolm-Naib, Karen Stokes and Kimberly Karpanty made Three both pleasing and amusing to watch. In the same series, Carly Wong danced two solos that showed off her gorgeous line and Valeria Scannura's ''Bodega'' Ritmo de la Noche was a new twist on an old dance.
In the spoken word series E, Richard Daniels was the stand-out, for his costume, first of all—a large white skirt—and for poetry that would hold up on any other stage. The New York dancer created his solo Bonus Round on his own experience of living with HIV. Jennifer Johnson's psst. was a stream-of-consciousness bit danced in a red outfit that kept her in child mode. In Adriene Leggett's Just A Thought, the words seemed more of an afterthought, overtaken as they were by the music, the choreography and some capable dancing from Pam Reid, Robin Calvert and Sandra Hoskins.
The single most impressive performance of the evening was Young Park, of Safmod Performance Ensemble from Cleveland, dancing to an inspired composition for drums by Neil Chastain, who also performed. This was a true collaboration of musician and choreographer in which the dance and the music seemed like one thing.
Six beautiful dancers from Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company (surely the record-holder for most fFIDA appearances) performed Vidas to a composition by Nicholas Hernandez inspired by Pablo Picasso. Waking The Living, by Rachel Gorman with composer Lilia Silveira, suffered from its own sense of social purpose.
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