CONTRASTS found at OU’s Contemporary Dance
The first two numbers of the contemporary dance program at the University of Oklahoma were a study in contrasts.
Opening the preview at OU’s Elsie Brackett Theatre, 563 Elm Ave., was “Tethered,” a light, breezy paean to the unfettered joys of rock music.
The large, mostly female company, had a fine time running, rolling their shoulders, and striking cool, hip poses, in scanty attire, in “Tethered.”
After becoming “blue-jean queens,” celebrating “Jimmy Dean,” in the middle of “Tethered,” performers got wilder, to Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold.”
Originally choreographed by modern dance artistic director Austin Hartel, “Tethered” was restaged, brilliantly, by Roxanne Lyst.
Supplying a strong contrast to “Tethered” were two women, in long, split dresses, portraying “two sides of a person’s mind,” in “Brodie’s Instrospection.”
Ashley Coffin, in burgundy, and Kessa Fehring, in orange, filled this double-bill well, coming together, or moving away from each other, to convey indecision.
“Brodie’s Instrospection” was choreographed by Austin Hartel, to music by Arvo Part, in deliberately muted, moody lighting, consisted mostly of double spotlights.
Even more challenging and downbeat, but rewarding, was “# or hashtag,” in which neutral gray exercise outfits, made the very large company seem almost anonymous.
Striking features included vignettes in which performers took turns cleaning themselves in a tub, and ones in which they nursed or took cellphone photos of sufferers.
Choreographed by Lyst, to haunting music, “hashtag” is described as exploring “how pop culture is quick to post slogans about global injustices,” but slow to abolish them.
An onstage piano, and sense of humor, provided welcome relief in the next offering, “Pictures At An Exhibition,” choreographed by Hartel to the enticing music of Modest Mussorgsky.
Three female dancers, in wide, rich-hued pantaloons, did a mock waltz, standing on the feet of two men in modified formal wear, in one of the number’s high points.
In another, dancers hid behind the piano, played by Allison Naifeh, except for their arms, in long white gloves, depicting the quirky movements of “unhatched chicks.”
Even funnier, in some ways, was the last dance, “In The Garden,” in which barefoot, male and female modern dancers, wore exaggerated tutus, then discarded them, with great relief.
Performing before bizarre psychedelic projections, to the music of Iron Butterfly, in this crowd-pleasing finale, choreographed by Hartel, was a large company of lead and swing dancers.