Bill Hebert, a well-known Philadelphia dance photographer, presented his fourth showcase at the Community Education Center. During the evening, Hebert made his debut as a dance videographer with a short video-dance piece featuring Jaynie Anguiano.
The showcase included a diverse grouping of choreography and dancers. The CEC’s stage is small, so companies with larger ensembles were challenged by its size and most of the dancers were challenged by its lack of wings. Given that, the solos were the standouts.
Dangerous and Moving’s Scott Park choreographed and performed an impressive solo, Speechless, set to a soundtrack of a raspy male voice encouraging his team to persevere in the face of an adversary. Alexis Convento, a dance artist from New York, was funny, agile and beautifully present in and then I –, an improvisational work set to the Rolling Stones classic song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”
In You Should Be Dancin, an excerpt from a larger work, Fernando Quinones pranced, strutted and did splits, conjuring up vamping and vogueing. His facial expressions drew the audience in; with a wink and a nod, he swept off to the delight of the sold-out crowd.
Kiara Lopez performed one of the shortest dances that I have ever seen. One Day Your Life Will Flash Before Your Eyes, Make Sure
It is Worth Watching was short, sweet and quite effective. This was a dance that I would have liked to see more of.
Other soloists were Rachel Neitzke and Lauren Williams.
Underground Dance Works presented Fiction by artistic director Charles Tyson, distinguished by its creative use of the space. In Invader of Mine by Megan Mizanty, two dancers, one in a white mask, danced intricate gestures and intense sweeping arcs.
Monarch, a company led by Tabitha Robinson-Scott from the Lehigh Valley performed Prey, an excerpt of a larger work. The twelve dancers are to be commended for working on the small stage, but they really needed a larger playing area for the work to be fully appreciated. The same challenge was faced by MM2 as the group tried to navigate the small stage with large movements and several dancers.
The BillHPhotos Choreography Showcase drew on significant talent in our community, offering flashes of how dance can be magical. It was clear to this viewer that the dancers, choreographers and audience supported each other and understood the need for and value of showcasing excerpts and works-in-progress.
BillHPhotos Choreography Showcase IV, Sept. 23, Community Education Center.
