ODC Dance paints a pretty picture
Most dances that attempt to emulate the style of famous painters end up looking like dreary tableaux vivants. The question “why bother” starts to form on the lips. But, against all odds, ODC/ Dance’s founding Artistic Director Brenda Way takes a similar path and comes up a winner in the captivating “Walk Back the Cat,” the keystone work on the program that opened the company’s annual Dance Downtown season ( its 45th) Thursday, March 17, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.
The model is American painter Thomas Hart Benton, whose murals of urban life in the 1930s still fascinate, and you can understand why Way was attracted and challenged by him. The sheer energy in Benton’s work is disconcerting, its ebullience is remarkable, and its angles of vision suggest a woozy hedonism. Way lets it all out in the opening tableau, a silhouette of the 11- member cast and trumpeter Tom Dambly wailing through Paul Dresher’s appropriate ( if overamplified) commissioned score. Dambly departs to join violinist Emily Packard in the pit. That brings on the dancers.
And what dancers! Since the last ODC season, there has been a substantial personnel turnover in the company. But you might not notice, so artfully has Way woven the four newcomers ( Jeremy Bannon- Neches, Alec Guthrie, Allie Papazian and Tegan Schwab) into the texture of the work. The performers pose, with legs bent, spines twisted, butts exaggerated, backs arched, shoulders heaving and arms curved, Balances are tipsy, feet draw lazy lines on the floor, and you notice that Way has created a piece with virtually no straight lines.
In the first part of “Walk Back the Cat,” you sense a certain austerity. The barefoot dancers wear simple black; they dance in front of a variety of projections ( including some choreographer rehearsal sketches). When the performers meet, they adhere to the same movement style. Lifts are awkward and disorienting, and the virtuosity takes your breath away.
Steffi Cheong’s entry in ’ 30s finery ( and high heels) moves us from the abstract to the historical. When the company dons slinky outfits and Josie G. Sadan extends a leg under her glittering dress, you understand the meaning of swanky. Dambly’s return to the stage reinforces the historical element.
“Walk Back the Cat” is hugely enjoyable, not because it’s a nostalgic wallow, but because Way seems to say that style is not appliqued thrills; style is meaning itself. Credit RJ Muna and Ian Winters for the visuals and Gabriel BrandonHanson for the costumes.
Thursday’s program opened with a superior
pièce d’occasion. After a seven- year absence, the popular performer Brandon “Private” Freeman, who inspired some of Way’s finer dances ( not least “Investigating Grace”), has returned to ODC/ Dance. Co- Artistic Director KT Nelson has welcomed her colleague with “Going Solo,” in which Freeman does a terrific job of defying the years.
The structurally solid choreographic plan builds on basic moves, which, like those shoulder shrugs, evolve into more complex phrases. Only Freeman retains enough boyish charm to attempt a climactic slide across the stage. The recorded score unites Max Richter and cellist Jean Jeanrenaud; Sara Horner and David Robertson created the appealing visuals,
In the middle comes a reprise of associate choreographer Kimi Okada’s 2011 romp, “I Look Vacantly at the Pacific … Though Regret,” which has something to do with language lessons and intercultural misunderstandings. The best of this group work is a lip- synced monologue of cliche piled upon cliche. It’s scarcely immortal, but hang on for “Walk Back the Cat.”