Hayes and Kanter should be given credit for trying to provide a broader scope than just their own work, even though this did not fully succeed. On the whole, the evening was characterized by a good sense of pacing, professionalism in performance, and an overall satisfying use of dynamics and music. If the choreographic ventures were not always successful or satisfying, CrossCurrents is a company that could contribute increasingly to the local D.C. dance scene by presenting other choreographers and honing in on their own work. Both artists move with maturity and clarity, and their dances are characterized by a fine sense of dynamics and musicality. In the case of Kanter there is an overemphasis on intense emotional representation, which is not necessarily organically motivated or illuminating in terms of relationships being explored. But she does have a good sense of creating visual images and satisfying phrasing, and allowing for silence instead of incessant activity. Hayes has a fine capacity for flow and energy, as well as spatial patterning and musical phrasing.

Swing Set (2005), with music by Moon Mullican and Willie Bronzy, was not at the level of the other works. Performed by Emily Crews and Donnie Walker, it used the music superficially and tended to cuteness. There was very little sense of swing, and the movements were obvious and ordinary. Possibly intended as a cheerful opening, it did little to advance the evening. Reunion (1996) by Kanter, utilized four dancers: Allison Feierabend, Helen Hayes, Katie Nesmith, Jennifer Schwartz, with Hayes providing the strongest performance. The music by Clannad and Northern Lights provided background for what seemed to be intended as an exploration of either mothers and daughters, or younger and older women. There was a great deal of reaching, leaning, embracing, moving away from and towards each other, but the emotional components were melodramatic rather than coming from within the relationships. The choreography tended to have all four dancers in symmetrical formations, doing all the same movements. The most successful moments occurred when one couple at a time more fully explored who and what they were, and this generated more clarity in performance and intent. Since this is an earlier piece by the Kanter, it is possible she might want to revisit both motivation and design.

Pacemaker (2006), performed and choreographed by Sarah Scott, started out as she sat on a bench and told us about being in Hawaii for six months with her family, and how this usually generated positive responses from people. She then went on to tell us that it was a dreadful time for her, as she had two young children and discovered a serious heart condition. We learned about her time in the hospital, the support of her husband, and the difficulties her illness posed for her as a mother. The monologue was interspersed with movement, as Scott illustrated the nature of her heart problem and her conflict with taking care of herself and also the need to take care of her children. The literalness of both movement and text as well as the lack of any depth in the emotional content made this piece seem empty and indulgent. There could have been a poetic sense of illness and loss, but these were never conveyed.

Kanter’s Converge (2006) had music by Meredith Monk and Kronos Quartet with performance by Julia Buergler and Helen Hayes, and was a strong choreographic venture, although not totally successful. The mature and sensitive performance by Hayes contributed significantly to the piece, as she imbued every moment and movement with depth. It is clear that Kanter wanted to tell us something about the relationship of two women, as they came together embracing and then went apart in what seemed to a mixture of conflict and hope. While there were times of poetic intensity, this viewer was confused about the meaning and context of this relationship, and what constituted the core of these two women emotionally and psychologically. Kanter’s musicality was a plus, as well as her fine use of dynamics, and the good sense that the dancer’s needed moments of silence.

Daniel Burkholder is credited with staging Unmapped (4×4), and the dancers gained immeasurably from the live improvisational music by Jonathan Morris. Debra Kanter stood out as a performer, while Allison Feierband, Katharine Mardirosian and Michelle Williams showed a nice sensitivity to each other and the music. It was a welcome contribution to the program that this piece emphasized pure movement, and four people moving freely through space. All four dancers exhibited fine control in their ability to interact with the music and also in their ability to know when to stop, and when to start again. There were lovely moments of individuals on their own, as well as nice interactions within the group.

Alvin Mayes chose music by Dvorak for Missive from Spillville (2005). Hayes again stood out as a performer, and her partner, Donnie Walker, could not match her projection or skill. This was another piece about a relationship, and took place with the couple moving on and off a chair as they came together and apart. The power of the music overwhelmed the choreography, and the couple’s movements moved away from a clear focus on the relationship and the emotional intent. It was hard to know what this was all about, and after a while all the activity between the two dancers became confusing.

The last piece, created this year for the twenty-four dancers of varying ages, was exactly what the title said: Joyful Motion. Set to music by Douglas Yuell, the dances were students of the choreographer Helen Hayes, and they were members of the Joy of Motion Youth Dance Ensemble, listed as Senior, Junior, Prepartory I and II company members. Rarely does one see young people so well trained performing with such joy and abandon. Rarely does one see choreography so full and rich in spatial design, movement invention, and integrity of intent and execution. Groups came and went with abandon and clarity, and individuals floated, turned, and leaped through space. These youngsters danced their hearts out, and knew what they were doing, and looked splendid. The choreography was sure and inventive and rich in variation.

CrossCurrents would do well to follow this idea of mixing their repertory, and bringing in other choreographers to work with them. It will be interesting to see what they put together for their next concert, and what directions Kanter and Hayes take in their own choreography.

© 2006 Naima Prevots, www.danceviewtimes.com

Saturday’s 10th-anniversary program at Kreeger Auditorium featured works from the company’s inaugural year as well as a premiere. Among the seven pieces, standouts included a quirky study of three distinctively dreamy women, two duets reflecting both sides of relationships unraveling, and a finely rehearsed work for teen dancers of the District’s Joy of Motion Youth Dance Ensemble.

But first, those women in Cathy Paine’s Edward Gorey-esque “White Dream Recurring” finessed wickedly funny undertones. Katharine Mardirosian’s ghostly bride wafted across the stage to the tinkling of the Pachelbel Canon, sickly sweet yet sincere. Michelle Williams relished her inner diva in a series of aborted attempts to hit sopranic high notes. Finally, Kanter was drawn to a pair of satin pointe shoes while strains of Saint-Saens’s “Dying Swan” underscored her pursuit of the unattainable — grace. The work’s epilogue returned the trio as ordinary modern dancers, their dreams dispersed.

“Missive From Spillville,” a recent duet by Alvin Mayes for Hayes and Donnie Walker, gently mined the inner workings of a poignantly fading relationship. Kanter revealed another side to the Hayes-Walker partnership in “Grey Zone,” featuring the choreographer’s trademark tilts and slashes set in high relief against Chris Isaak’s driving score. In “Whirlpools,” seven teen dancers circled in eddies, skimming and relishing the ebb and flow of Hayes’s lyric intent. Less successful was the lost intimacy in Kanter’s mournful trio “Precipice” and her cloying mother-daughter quartet, “Reunion.” Emily Crews’s flippant “Swing Set,” also with Walker, elicited scant laughs.

© 2006 The Washington Post

The opening appetizer was “light years,” a delightful childlike romp choreographed by Emily Crews and set to the folksy jazz of David Grisman. Four women clapped, slapped, jumped and hopped mischievously across the stage, evoking children’s games.

Equally satisfying was the soft, flowing, improvisation-based work “Seen From Afar,” by Daniel Burkholder. Evoking the movements of birds, dancers came together and dispersed with the fluidity of a migrating flock, dynamically inhabiting the stage in their long orange tunics. The electronic music of Steve Reich created an otherworldly atmosphere, transforming the stage into an avian realm.

The main course, longish pieces “Code Blue” and “Fragments” by Debra Kanter, were somewhat monotonous. Tense emotional movements with overwrought, grasping hand gestures characterized both works. The timing of still poses with erratic movements and sweeping floor work became predictable. Though the dancers were accomplished, the choreography wandered and was in need of tension relief.

Helen Hayes’s “Heat of the Jungle” and Alvin Mayes’s “From Morn Till Eve,” both lenses into relationships between the sexes, were the dessert: Hayes’s work was sharply tart while Mayes’s was saccharine sweet. The latter strung together dramatic, even cliched, romantic poses beautifully danced by Hayes and Donnie Walker. The piece had a sad aftertaste, however, as the couple’s attitude toward each other was one of indifference and ennui. Quite the opposite was true in Hayes’s cutthroat “jungle” world where four women pursued one man in funny ensemble moments, ending in the capture of their prey.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

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Copyright © 2004 The Gazette, All rights reserved.

“Numb” is loud and raw. It takes as its theme the desperate desire for human contact, even if painful, particularly when life seems empty. Powered by the screeching crescendos of Geoff Smith’s “Sparta,” Mason shapes the ensemble like twisted pieces of metal that clang and crash. Despite some awkwardly conceived moments that involved personally overwhelming situations, Mason generally translated her inspiration into abstracted choreography. The company rose to the task.

Less successful, but fresh nevertheless, was co-artistic director Debra Kanter’s new ensemble work “Code Blue,” which drew on her reaction to last year’s sniper attacks. She translated her reactions into a subtle mood piece, moving her dancers about the stage with contained energy.

Tapping into the opposite end of the emotional scale was a new, sugary-sweet duet, “Waiting for No One” by co-artistic director Helen Hayes, and the premiere of Sarah Scott’s belabored yet amusing solo “Unapologetically, Sentimental: Delivering Grace,” in which she lovingly describes her newborn as that “purple, wrinkly critter.”

Rounding out the program was Kanter’s so-so duet “Crevasse” and Dan Burkholder’s well-structured improvisation “Breath(e).”

© 2004 The Washington Post

The locally based troupe features 10 women, who, for the most part, come off as technically adept and intelligent performers. Company co-directors Helen Hayes and
Debra Kanter shared duties, each gravitating to where her talents were best showcased.

Hayes is one of the dance community’s best-kept secrets: an exquisite dancer who possesses strength and lyricism, polish and a sense of drama. Even a simple look back or a sharply held leg extension can carry profound meaning when executed by her. She danced in four of the evening’s six works, and Kanter, whose dances are soundly built around a dramatic structure, choreographed three pieces, including a premiere, “Crevasse,” a duet for Hayes and Walter Johnson High School senior Laura Chasen. Imbued with tension, “Crevasse” explores the tricky balancing act between its two dancers, likely a parent and child. Ever-shifting supports, uneasy, off-kilter balances, strong weight-bearing stances and arms and legs tracing jagged lines through the space lend a tempestuous quality to the finely danced work.

Also premiering was Sarah Lowing’s “Veer,” which relied more on movement quality than technique. “Veer” laid bare inner turmoil through gestures: shrugs, itches and twitches, dressing and disrobing. The music, a sung poem by Susannah McCorkle and Antonio Carlos Jobim in English and French, felt achingly wistful.

Last year’s “Precipice” by Kanter gained clarity and intent with the insertion of Hayes into the cast. A trio, the work is now a taut drama about love and loss and how it changes one’s life, forever. Hayes, the central character, attaches meaning to the simple props — a photo album and a table with a framed picture — that merely hint at a personal loss; Hayes does the rest with her direct focus. Vocal and percussive selections from Meredith Monk’s “The Book of Days” sustained the powerful idea of memories in the work.

Baltimore-based dancemaker Cathy Paine premiered a solo for long, lean Jennifer Martin. “The Next Merry-Go-Round” delivered the playful hallmarks of Paine’s work, including pedestrian runs and walks accentuated with quicksilver foot patterns. “The Reflective Surfaces, Art Versus Nature, Who Am I Anyway Blues” closed the evening on a wry personal note. Paine again appropriated simple steps, allowing the six dancers to insert their own stories and movement phrases to humorous and touching results.

The entire program was expertly lit by Cheles Rhynes, who finds interesting angles and ways to bathe the dancers in light, enriching the performance. Keira Chang’s costumes also added theatrical flair to “Crevasse,” “Precipice” and “Veer.”

But guest choreographers Cathy Paine and David Parsons emphasized the dancers’ unique abilities and personalities at the company’s performances at Dance Place over the weekend.

Baltimore-based Paine relies on improvisation to shape her works. “The Reflective Surfaces, Art Versus Nature, Who Am I Anyway Blues” incorporates spoken text and movement material contributed by the six women. Twitches and fidgets upstaged the staid sweeps and runs as the women jiggled their thighs, checked their tummies and fussed with their hair. Brief monologues recounting performance nightmares – things like ending up backwards on stage, forgetting a costume – and descriptive phrases – “skin no longer elastic”, “generous heart” – painted a fuller picture of the dancers as individuals and Paine as a witty dancemaker.

Elisa Clark in “Parson’s Etude” by New York choreographer David Parsons

“Parsons’ Etude”, by New York choreographer David parsons, employed a percussive score by local choreographer and composer Tony Powell. Guest artist Elisa Clark, a Juillard student originally from Washington, excelled at the driving force and angular athletic movement. Another local dancemaker and dancer, Gesel Mason, joined members of the company for the premiere of Kanter’s “Precipice”, a muddy trio exploring the aftermath of a life-shattering event. But the work – which revolves around two props; a framed photo and photo album – rarely came into focus. Onlty mason was able to suggest the loss that “precipice” sought to sketch.

Kanter’s “Grey Zone”, a duet for the elastic Clark and lanky Ted Freeman, offered high-relief snapshots of a relationship gone sour. Company member Sarah Lowing’s “Leashlessness” found humor in her dog’s life with agile jumps and finicky twitches that mirrored the simple but restless lives of dogs.

“In the Heat of the Night” (set to the Chris Isaak tune), in which Freeman was surrounded by for women competing for his attention, provided a solid finish.

In the group’s season opener, three works – “Lifeline,” “Outside In” and “Dreamtime” – represented its staple of modern fare. A bevy of lithe young women cycled deftly through a series of more or less abstract evolutions. As usual, a selection of tasteful musical scores lent depth to the performances. “Leashlessness,” a solo danced and choreographed by Sarah Lowing was more eccentric. Inspired by her dog, this comic piece contained many sharply crafted sight gags. Lowing, who danced in every number, has the unusual ability to use her limbs like carving tools, slicing vivid lines through space.

Left to right: Allison Fieirabend, Ted Freeman, Donna Iriarte, Sarah Lowing, and Heidi Bickey perform “In the Heat of the Jungle”

“In the Heat of the Jungle,” (pictured) a premiere choreographed by Helen Hayes, was more provocative. This reverse-gender “Rite of Spring” featured Ted Freemen and four women, with a drum-heavy score by Chris Isaak. The dancers were still tentative; the work, which seems to call for a certain wanton fire, will clearly be a strong piece.

“White Dream: Recurring” choreographed by Cathy Paine, was the evening’s strongest offering. First Lowing, a nightmarish bride, floated around the stage to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Then Allison Feierabend, in a blood-red gown, delivered a triumphant sendup of a diva. Next, Debra Kanter donned a pair of toe shoes that acted like training wheels on a kid’s new bike. Finally the trio appeared to gather, to a delicate Carl Sandburg poem for little girls.