Deeply Rooted Productions
Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago
On second thought, though–and after seeing the second half, “Move!”–the problem seemed not the choreographer’s ability but his choice of sound track. While the first act included music, it was choreographed to words: when we hear the shout “I am somebody!” Willis raises his fist. Likewise Krystal Hall Glass’s Resonant Untruth–a solo for Brian Brooks to text highlighting the phrase “My pretty little nigger, I’ll never let you go”–gets bogged down in wrapped arms and dragging feet, literal and predictable representations of constraint.
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Artistic director Anna Simone Levin’s Landtslayt (Yiddish for “people from the homeland”) is set to a dirge and other klezmer tunes. Klezmer is an acquired taste, but its origins in ritual chanting mean it’s usually more suitable for davening than dancing–a fact the uninspired choreography underscores. Four women in khakis make formulaic gestures suggesting Jews or Israel: crawling through the desert, walking in a folk-dance circle. Wheedling music, Yiddish lyrics (mournful even when incomprehensible), and difficult moves evoking struggle without really delivering a statement seem to make it the audience’s duty to care.
The program’s other star was Hancock: whatever his weaknesses as a choreographer, he’s a magnificent dancer. Whether performing alone in Between, partnering four women single-handedly in Ron De Jesus’s confused The Seated Souls, or twirling a baby carriage in his own It Ain’t Necessarily So, he combines charisma with directness, commitment, and superb technique. He should have resisted the urge to use drag, though; unless he’s making a point about gender roles, drag is as offensive as blackface.
Likewise The Rehearsal, a reconstruction of a Gus Giordano duet from 1980, risks dismissal for being obvious (ex-lovers at a rehearsal end up dancing together) and dated (look at those disco references!). But the “Dancing in the Dark” duet in The Band Wagon refers to swing and it’s not dated–it’s a classic. The Rehearsal, set to period music by Cat Stevens, may be another. Kimberly Fletcher is exceptional, and Lehrer displays some serious partnering chops.
