CLEARWATER — Giants of modern dance and contemporary jazz got together Friday night to wish Ruth Eckerd Hall a happy anniversary.
It's the 25th season at Ruth Eckerd, and choreographer Donald Byrd and his Seattle-based Spectrum Dance Theater premiered For Ruth, a commemorative work commissioned by the hall. It was set to music composed for the occasion by David Benoit and Dave Koz; Benoit was on hand to perform the piece with the pit orchestra.
For Ruth was the centerpiece and by far the shortest of four pieces performed for a half-full house. Even though it drew a prolonged standing ovation, it was the least innovative and least interesting piece on the program.
No doubt the majority of the audience was there to see For Ruth and other works by Byrd, a former Clearwater resident and one of the country's most acclaimed choreographers. (Besides being artistic director of Spectrum and his former company, Donald Byrd The Group, Byrd is probably best known for his Tony-nominated choreography for The Color Purple.)
So the choice of Ronen Koresh's Human for Error, the only non-Byrd piece of the evening, seemed an odd choice to open the program.
The long and episodic work for 11 dancers had impressive moments, as did the frenetic music by Karl Mullen. But despite strong performances, the piece didn't have enough emotional cohesion or dynamics. The incessant rhythms of Mullen's music — which included electronic noise, a harmonica and an anxious voice repeating the words "black" and ''white" — became grating.
It was followed by Byrd's Scorched, a profoundly effective work set to music by the phenomenal avant-garde rock band TV on the Radio. Despite the modernity of the music and the freshness of Byrd's dance vocabulary, the postapocalyptic piece had beautifully primal, almost sacrificial, underpinnings that led to an ultimate and beautiful moment of salvation.
For Ruth couldn't have been less remarkable. The music was pretty but sounded like the theme from a 1980s TV show. Byrd's choreography was similarly pleasant and unimpressive.
The evening ended with the stunning, energetic and beautiful Banghra Fever, which the ensemble danced to Middle Eastern club music.
In retrospect, perhaps the lineup wasn't so incongruous. By the time Banghra Fever was done, that annoying opening piece barely remained in the memory.
Freelance writer Marty Clear can be reached at mclear@tampbay.rr.com.
[Last modified: Apr 25, 2008 11:45 PM]
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