Dancers indulge in art

By Alison Young, On-line Forty-Niner

May 5,1998

CSULB faculty and students present eclectic yet overwrought material

 

Student dancers and faculty choreographers integrated music and movement to create six modern dance pieces performed Thursday night at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater.

 

Composed of a variety of elements such as song, a piano and viola score, video and recorded voice, the concert's strength lay in its eclectic qualities.

 

Minus the variation, however, many of the performances lacked a cohesive feel.

 

What would have been an effective ending to a piece such as "Angels and Clay" turned out to be only a brief pause in the middle of the performance.

 

The drawn-out endings smothered the overall poignancy of the concert.

 

"Gatherings," an obscure dance choreographed by Jeff Slayton, featured the musical composition "Ark Angel," composed by Alan Terricciano, who also performed with Yvonne Creanga on stage.

 

Because the theater was designed primarily for dance performances, the evening did not prove to be an acoustic success.

The heavy-footed landings of some of the dancers were heard over the muffled sounds of Creanga's viola and Terricciano's piano.

 

The notable piece "A Woman's Influence," choreographed by Susan McLain, used eccentric movements to accentuate the maturation of dancer Keith Johnson's character.

 

Johnson, through movements characteristic of infancy, adolescence and adulthood, gave audience members a strong interpretation of evolution.

 

"The Atlantics," choreographed by Johnson, was a particularly meaningful piece that began with a recording of Amelia Earhart's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

... many of the performances lacked a cohesive feel.

Dancers Moonea Choi and Jennifer Macavinta brought a sense of pride and empowerment to the performance.

 

Choi and Macavinta's collective strength was their ability to connect with each other and remain connected throughout "The Atlantics."

 

The duration of this lengthy piece exposed the duo's consistency, and also allowed them to express their individual styles and skills.