The program that opened Thursday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is an evening of four works -- all but one by Bay Area choreographers -- including two company premieres. It leans distinctly toward the contemporary end of the spectrum both in dance styles and in general aesthetic sense.

While at times classical technique makes an appearance worked into contemporary forms, at others it seems to be very far from the mind of the choreographer.

The evening opens with a piece by one of the Bay Area's brightest local lights, modern dance choreographer Margaret Jenkins, and her company's former associate artistic director, Ellie Klopp.

Jenkins and Klopp created "Sightings" for the Oakland Ballet in 1991 as a sort of metaphysical rhapsody -- its intent is to explore moments in which we transcend the ordinary reality of our lives into a higher consciousness.

Costumed in loose pants and tunics that look like Indian kurtas and have great lift when twirling, 13 dancers share various interactions that examine the possibility of angels or other unseen beings guiding us.

"Huapango" was created by Mexican choreographer Gloria Contreras in 1958 and since then has been added to the repertoire of numerous companies, but this program represents Oakland's first go at it.

Contreras used the music of Jos Pablo Moncayo to forge the idioms of Mexican folkloric dance with classical ballet.

Four women and one man move brightly through this fast-moving piece, using the legwork and (sometimes) body lines of classical technique but combining it with arching body waves and stylistic arm gestures that color the movement with a recognizable cultural flavor.

Robert Moses' "Lone Woman," first seen in 2000, is likewise a company premiere. In this emotionally gritty solo, a woman (Kate M. Lieberth on Sunday, Jenna Johnson for all other performances) dances on and in front of a church pew. The music by Recoil has a spoken track that provides the setting against which the woman writhes, twitches, stretches and twists as she considers life, death, sensuality and spirituality.

The final piece, and the most ambitious project, is Robert Henry Johnson's "La Femme au Puits: Thirsting (The Woman at the Well)." First introduced in 2001 by the Oakland Ballet, "Thirsting" has been reworked as a result of the company's having received the Wattis Artist-in-Residence Award at Yerba Buena.

The piece is based on the New Testament story of Jesus asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water at a well. Even his speaking with the woman violated a whole raft of social taboos, and the ballet uses this to express the theme of compassion amid intolerance.

Instead of displaying a conventional narrative line with faux-Middle Eastern music and a hint at biblical costuming, however, Johnson presents a fanciful collage that starts out with a circus like atmosphere.

Amusing touches include four dancers representing "Fence" and four others representing "Road." The Samaritan (danced with sparkle by Phaedra Jarrett), Water of Life (also impressive Bernard Gaddis) and the others are propelled along this complex personal journey by the wonderful a capella vocals of the Afro-Belgian group Zap Mama, who had performed the music live at the piece's 2001 premiere.

Colorful and imaginative costuming and vibrant lighting design further enhance the work's high energy level.

The Oakland Tribune: Bay Area Living
Kari Hulac, Features Editor
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