Strong 'Trilogy' for The Company

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

Instead of the customary three nights of the same programme focused on a central theme, in its 25th anniversary season, The Company Dance Theatre chose a different path. There was a different act - or set of acts - for each of the three nights of its 2013 season, which started last Friday and ran until Sunday at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, St Andrew. The subtitle for each night was Retrospect (Friday), Renaissance (Saturday), and Rose Hall (Sunday).

Saturday's programme revealed another difference, a shorter list of dances - eight in total. But that did not mean the programme was any shorter, or the dances of a lesser standard. In fact, it was the opposite.

Except for The Journey, choreographed by artistic director Tony Wilson for the anniversary season, all the dances were from past seasons and were reworked for the better.

Dances on the programme choreographed by the artistic director were Sparrow (1999), Mental State (2008), Colours (1994), and Calabash (1995). Renée McDonald's 2012 Spectrum, Arsenio Andrade's 2008 Cartas Al Desnudo, and Barbara McDaniel's 1991 Session completed the programme.

The Journey got Saturday's programme off to a strong start. Divided into several motifs, with a rotating cast of soloists, females, males, and the full company, the dance was a moving collage of various levels, shapes and formations. The dancers seemed to have a full understanding of their choreographer's intentions and danced accordingly in very skimpy and tight garments (the only flaw of the dance).

Mental Sate, Colours and Calabash were well executed. Mental State saw fine and controlled dancing from Gabrielle Miller, Lindsay Lodenqual, Renée McDonald, and Shari Jackson. Each danced with conviction, illustrating the anger and frustration of the woman she role-played. The source of each problem seemed to be desertion by their partners through to death and broken relationships, as the props and costumes suggested.

Calabash closed the show. Again, nicely choreographed, it was wonderfully danced by the "next generation". However, it was the appearance in the fourth movement by former dancers and the founders of The Company that had the audience screaming. Dancers McDaniel, Cheryl Lawson Waite, Jameela Kassim, Kris-Ann Steele, Terry Hall, Vivette Miller, and Colin Blackwood skipped, leapt and walked across the stage in turn.

Another positive element of Calabash was the set, which entailed a decorated backdrop with a ramp placed upstage. Although the costumes were in the colours of the rainbow, as were the outfits for the Colours, in Calabash, they were more pleasing.

The dance of the night was McDaniel's dance-drama, Session, which had the audience spellbound. The high-drama dance saw a fusion of some Jamaican dancehall movements with The Company's trademark ballet steps. The dance tells the story of two rival females at a session. As the story shifted from bragging to fighting to love scenes, the juke box belched out some popular songs.

And, as sometimes happens in the real world, the dance ended with the arrival of the police, in this case, a lone female officer.

McDonald's Spectrum was also very nicely choreographed and well executed. The dance was mythical and the changes among light, shadows and darkness were quite effective. Soloists Lia ChinYee and Leane Hall, who danced Cartas Al Desnudo and Sparrow, respectively, also deserve commendation.