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Nova sidesteps hype, frills to deliver range of successes
Nova Dancing Company embraced the reflective possibilities of dance in an almost seamless program Thursday night at the South Dallas Cultural Center. It was a pity the audience was minuscule.
It opened in the quietest way possible, Moment of Silence. Seven dancers filed across a dimly lit stage soundlessly, gathering in a circle. One by one they lifted an arm, stretched out a leg, knelt or tilted, creating a simple and eloquent tableau. It was moving in an understated way.
Understatement seemed to be the theme: nothing showy, nothing pumped up, whether the works of artistic director Loris Anthony Beckles or those of guest artists Angela Abney- Herron or Anthony Giddines.
The ills of alcoholism could have easily been given the hyped dramatic treatment in Deliver Me, set to the music of John Lee Hooker. Instead, Mr. Giddines, who created as well as performed this taut work, ignored the expected lurches, opting for a more subtle show of desperation. The result was a slow-burning fire.
Mr. Beckles' works ranged from witty abstraction to a lyrical rite of winter. He obviously had fun creating Keech/For K for guest artist Kerry Kreiman, the artistic director of Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth. We first glimpsed part of her head behind a tall rose prop. She disappeared. New parts of the body showed up. Eventually she came out of hiding, with extended arms and turned head. The patterns were linear and distinct, with neat rearrangements of the body. Think of a windup clock that had been dismantled and put back together by a curious child.
Mr. Beckles' other solo, Ear Training, capitalized on guest artist Tina Mullone-Carter's strong stage presence. The music was an odd assortment by Steve Reich and Douglas Booth along with Sekou Sundiata's poetry. The works eventually got scrambled. Ms. Mullone-Carter changed clothes, pinned up her hair and took it down, moved from one chair to the next, as though running though the day in fast forward.
The ensemble works, Winter/Invisible and The Grey Reverse/Winter, revealed Mr. Beckles' gift for minimalist abstraction (Winter/Invisible) and a poetic evocation of the seasons (The Grey Reverse/Winter).
Winter/Invisible featured dancers in strong angles, even upside down with legs looking like broken branches. The jazzy music by Lumark Gulley reinforced the brisk and playful spirit.
Antonio Vivaldi's flute concerto (La Notte) and The Four Seasons got an interesting treatment: the three sections of "Winter" were danced in reverse order (hence the title). The "Grey" of the title referred to the silvery dress festooned with ribbons that flared as the dancers ran and turned.
The program also included Ms. Abney-Herron's Faith, performed by four members of Ella Lois Hudson Ensemble. What it lacked in sophistication it made up for in sincerity.
Lisa Wilhoit provided the expressive lighting, while Aakhu Bastet Sahu Shetet designed the simple but imaginative costumes.

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