ZENON DANCE




Zenon Dance Company at the Southern

Zenon Dance Company
25th Anniversary
Sothern Theater

This performance of Zenon included two World premiers; Hard Bargain by Sean Curran, developed for the male dancers, and Where are These Days Again? choreographed and directed by Jeanine Durning. The performance began with Hard Bargain. This work set to a selection of Handel's opera arias showcased the male dancers Bryan Godbout, Eddie Oroyan (we just saw him perform with Shapiro and Smith), Stephan Schroeder and Gregory Waletski. This was a nice piece. The men wore all-brown medival style outfits made of tights and short-sleeve shirts that ended in a skirt. The mostly slow-tempo dancing included some duets with a few "manly moments" like slapping each other on the face. After that came The Secret Life of Walt and Kitty choreographed by Cathy Young with dancers Amy Elaine Behm Thomson and Gregory Waletsky. This sultry dance (she was wearing a tight red dress with a bare back) went from steamy to playfuly and back. It almost verged on ballroom dancing, not quite getting there. I thought it was pretty succesful. After that came Where are the days, again? choreographed by Jeanine Durning for the female dancers that included Amy Elaine Behm Thomson, Mary Ann Bradley, Christine Magginis and Tamara Ober. This was a very disturbing work that got as far away from pure dance as you can get. The work was more performance theater than dance. It showcased each woman in a solo segment that brought out one phsycological problem or another. I think everyone could tell that the audience did not appreciate it much. For my part, I tought it was too long and tedious.
During the short intermision we went to get coffee and cookies. Both were very poor quality. The cookie was basically uncooked, so I ended up throwing it away. They have to do something about their concession stand. No wine or beer? What's up?
The second part of the performance included Like an Octopus (1992) coreographed by Susana Tambutti. This was another work made for two dancers. Tamara Ober and Gregory Waletsky (again). This piece uses a long waist high table (think a narrow and elongated ping pong table) as an effective prop. The dancers move on the floor, around the table. They jump and slide on it. They roll and catch each other or tumble to the dance-floor. This was a pretty physical work and very nicely performed.
The program ended with Garden (2006) choreographed by Wynn Fricke with music by Johan Sebastian Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied cello" (performed by Yo-yo Ma. This work included all of the dancers for the first time. Amy Elaine Behm Thomson, Mary Ann Bradley, Christine Magginis and Tamara Ober, Bryan Godbout, Eddie Oroyan, Stephan Schroeder and Gregory Waletski. In Garden the dancers pick the tempo up. They come out again in very muted brown ensembles that work well with the piece. This work includes a number of nice duets and a wonderful solo part with Gregory Waletski .




dance perfall perf08

Posted: Saturday - April 19, 2008 at 01:45 PM          

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