The Bay Area's premiere modern dance company, ODC San Francisco kicked off its 35th Annual Season at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts last weekend, and for the most part it was business as usual: playful choreography, kick-ass dancing and a sexy style that has come to epitomize the ODC aesthetic. The company is presenting three full programs with a couple of premieres, and there's pretty much something for everyone.
The big news is that two of the company's primo male danseurs (Private Freeman and Brian Fisher) are retiring, and former San Francisco Ballet ballerina Joanna Berman was this season's guest artist. Artistic Director and Choreographer Brenda Way chose to revive "Part of a Longer Story" to feature these artists, and succeeded splendidly. Setting the piece to Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Way creates an insouciant series of groupings that spotlights the company and works as a vehicle to showcase Freeman, Fisher and Berman.
The piece is built around a primary duet in the second movement for Freeman and Berman, and while it was a bit sentimental, Berman's presence blazed on stage. One has to wonder if ODC wouldn't be the perfect home for former SFB dancers. Way's choreography looked comfortable and sensual on Berman's effortless technique. While Freeman's dancing was stronger earlier in the program, in this piece he channeled his inner Gene Kelly and showed why he is probably one of the most charismatic dancers in the ODC cast. The third movement featured Fisher, and Way gave him a beautiful opportunity to shine while he "mentored" four of the company's new dancers. Fisher's maturity on stage gave him a confidence that was a striking counterpoint to the youthful exuberance of the newer dancers. Both movements were wonderful testaments to the contributions of the mature dancer.
Sea legs
The program opened with Co-Artistic Director KT Nelson's "Lost at Sea," a group work with recorded music by Phil Kline and projections by Kim Turos. The piece is a sophisticated meditation that features what the ODC dancers do best: fly fearlessly, partner with abandon, then slow down with a steely focus that is, at times, unnerving. But "Lost as Sea," while danced admirably and choreographed astutely, never rises above standard ODC repertory. The dancers continue to be sexy, we know they can be sexy in their faux leather pants and micro shorts, but we kept waiting for all the components to come together and make a more substantial whole.
Way's premiere for the evening was "time remaining," a large group work exploring themes of "loss of individual will, manipulation and the lure of righteousness." Religious imagery abounded, all the way down to Freeman playing a priest (or bishop?) manipulating his flock dressed like seamstress manikins ("haute couture"). The recorded score by Ara Anderson featured tinkling piano and evoked a carnival-like atmosphere. The choreography was dense, and the movement got muddled along the way. The imagery was clear, and we never had to guess where Way stood politically. The piece needs some distilling and editing, but Freeman danced spot-on. The ending was especially strong as Freeman walked downstage saluting the audience like a demented televangelist, his acolytes falling behind. Anderson's score builds to an ominous vibration, and the piece abruptly ends with a disquieting blackout.
The company returns for the next two weeks with three separate programs featuring a combination of new works and repertory. Program 2 will feature Nelson's new work, "Stomp a Waltz," and Way's piece from last year about global warming, "On a Train Heading South."
ODC/Dance Downtown continues March 9-11, 16-19. Go to www.ybca.org or www.odcdance.org for programs and times. Tickets ($10-$38), call 415-978-ARTS. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard St., SF.