Dance review
Leeward Theater choreography proves uneven

By Ana Paula Höfling

Four very different works by four local choreographers were performed at Leeward Community College Theater.

The evening started on a high note with "Tea Party" by Andre Moris. This piece, based on the social life of five silver- and blue-haired women, shows a talented choreographer at work. Moris, who dances in the piece as Eleonore, brilliantly uses Strauss' music as a thread.

Ushered in by the familiar "Blue Danube," Mary-Virginia, danced by Eva Lee, enters in a hot pink suit, carrying a large flower arrangement as she waits for friends to come for tea. The ladies greet each other, precisely matching the music with each peck on the cheek, and take a seat on the rocking chairs on stage. When the main waltz begins, they start a rhythmic rocking pattern, first in unison, then in counterpoint.

Video artist and choreographer Eva Lee presented a two-part performance, "Yellow and White." In the first part, Lee projected video images of incense, candles, falling rice and corn, a 1940's picture of a couple — perhaps her parents — and lastly of herself cutting off her very long braid. In the second part, Lee, in a pool of light on center stage, took command with clear and simple movements, while the tip of a giant braid descended from above.

Unfortunately, the rest of last Saturday night's concert did not live up to "Tea Party" and "Yellow and White."

Granted that Peter Rockford Espiritu's company showed remarkable professionalism by going on with the performance despite a recent death in the company, "Paniolo Blues" was an unintended caricature of itself. The dance depicted paniolos as hip-thrusting, pirouetting, open-shirted men wearing tight jeans, who didn't seem to be paying too much attention to their cowgirls. It was not clear whether the male homoeroticism present throughout the piece was intended as humorous or an accidental byproduct of the performance.

David Ward's epic "Suite Dream" was more like a nightmare than a dream. This 16-part piece was a collage of every single trick, every single prop available to Ward, ranging from mirror balls to gymnastics tricks; from wigs and masks to glow sticks and flashlights.

Using the old Nutcracker trick, Ward thought that he could get away with presenting 16 separate pieces under the same title using the pretext that these disconnected images are all dreams. But even if a piece is about chaos, it needs to be carefully constructed.

Ana Paula Höfling is a dancer, dance teacher and choreographer pursuing an MFA in dance at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.