THE DAILY TEXAN April 4, 1978 dance Spectrum dancers perform 'Dance of Dawn.' Dance ofthe deaf Spectrum: a By MARY DAY For some reason, a performance by a deaf dance com pany seems totally different from one by a hearing com pany. Even before the curtain went up on the joint program by the Dallas Ballet and Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company Friday in Hogg Auditorium, the difference was there. The usual pre-concert audience conversation created a low buzz, but a hundred hands also joined in conversaion. Reminder: this is no ordinary dance performance. Not until mid-way through the deaf dancers' second piece, ''Interactions No. 2,'' did I realize what made their performance so draining to watch: it required the hearing viewers to sharpen their senses as have those who cannot hear. Now it is essential to follow a dancer's body, facial expression and even his eye movement. It seems the audience must deal with magnified emotion -confronta tion, rejection, advance and retreat -they must be alert, active participants in what is happening in front of them. As choreographer Yacov Sharir said of the opening piece, ''Dance of Dawn,'' the choreography and the music do not interrelate, they coexist. This is precisely the situation in "Interactions," as well. Music exists separately from the dancers' movements because they cannot relate to it as hearing dancers (or a hearing audience) can; they perceive it, not as notes on a scale or recognizable electronic sounds, but simply as vibrations. IN SHARIR'S DANCES the audience was bombarded aurally, as well as visually; our ears had as much to con sume as did our eyes. Austin composer Priscilla McLean's electronic-sounding score for "Dahce of Dawn'' provided an alarm clock awakening for both the dancers and the audience. To receive the purest, most po tent impact of the dance, however, one must separate the movement from the music to absorb or even identify it all. The choreography employed scattered groupings of dancers who executed movement patterns with oc. casionally similar movements and mOods. The groups sometimes lost members to each other, or dancers broke off into solos or duets. Within these groups the dancers worked in unison, in symmetry, in mirror and in echoed images of each other and of neighboring groups. Together, the complexity of the stage articulation and the dynamics of the music presented an ambitious project for the audience. The dancers involved themselves with only movement and timing; why couldn't the audience do the same? DANCE AUDIENCES by now probably have witnessed programs that included silent works, and perhaps the score is partially for their benefit. The music, however, serves an invisible and inaudible purpose in Spectrum's performance: they rely on its vibrations to establish the counting for c.ues and Thythm. The volume must always special·intensity be loud enough for the dancers to "hear" (feel) the music. Sharir's movement vocabulary, based on modern technique, is superimposed on everyday, almost task-like movement. The pace wavers between frantic, percussive movements and slow-motion ones, but most of these grow from bursts of energy that are either full circle (such as bounding straight up from a squat and returning to that position) or halted mid-stream (as when a dancer freezes a few steps after initiating a run). The artists, Sharir admits, are still learning to be dancers. As the program notes state, the company began to integrate balletic movements into their work in March, which should fill out their repertoire as it strengthens their reserves. One thing is certain, however; all of the artists are composed and confident performers with growth potential one does not often see in a company that is riot yet two years old. · THE DALLAS BALLET presented two pieces on .the Spectrum program, marking the first time in the United States that deaf and hearing dancers have performed together. ''Mechanical Doll,'' the second section of Sharir's five-part "Homage to Jerome Robbins" was supposed to reflect the atmosphere of a Robbins ballet, not to imitate his style, according to Sharir. · Sharir's choreography, more balletic this time, ran on the same energy flow as in "Dance of Dawn," with sudden stops and starts. Of the four dancers (one man ~d three women), it was difficult to tell whether they were all mechanical dolls, at one time or another, or if the dancer they manipulate was the title character. Throughout the dance there were other bits of symbolism which remained obscure. Another viewiJ1R of the dance would ·perhaps clarify their meanings. Dallas' final offering, "Rite of Spring," featured the entire company in Brian MacDonald's choreography. From beginning to end, the dancers struggled with some lurking evil force (which seemed to be in the form of a stage director, clad in Bermuda shirt and baggy pants). Stravinsky's foreboding score carried enough passages and changes of mood to give each dancer his own solo of pyrotechnics. THE FINEST PERFORMANCE, however, came from the stage itself a·s it reincarnated with each mood change in the music. Backdrops and cycloramas appeared and disappeared, sometimes parting in. the middle to reveal the stage wall's mid-section. Sandbags, stage lights, ironwork and huge ropes descended and later lifted like a nightmare that lingers for awhile after awakening. At the end of the piece, the ~truggle seemed to turn away from the invading force, and the dancers struggled with themselves. They finally bunched up in the center, undera pool of light, for one final1err for ilelp. dance Troupe performance provoking By KATHY SAMON Last Saturday night at the Paramount, the Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company demonstrated that deaf people are just as capable of dancing as those who hear. Within minutes the company proved that modern dance, in its highest element, is a direct emotional form of communication. Compounded with artistic director and choreographer Yacov Sharir's intelligent, charging choreography, the result was one of the most provoking and passionate evenings of dance that Austin audiences have been a part of in years. pramatic ability is the crux of the eight dancers' success as performers. They are not technical virtuosos -most of them have only been dancing one year. Yet they have the ability to allow choreography to unfold in clear, startling shapes without strain or over-acting. The dancers feel and understand their choreography so completely that their bodies are not just used for motion, they become a total means of body language and interpretation. "CONTINUATION IN Silence," performed without accompaniment, demonstrates the groundwork of Sharir's concept that music is not necessary to supply the mood of. a piece. The silence also projects a deaf person's point of view as dancer and performer. This dance and "From Right to Left" are studies of the coordination of time and motion in relation to space. In each abstract dance many activities coexist -simultaneously with different timing. Sharir explains that the relationship between dancers, what is created around them; forms emotional content. Visual images are clear and direct and the mood is set from the first movement of ''Continuation of Silence'' through these images. When two dancers lying side by side slowly raise and entwine their arms, space has texture that allows these forms weight and definite presence. It is only the beginning -the energy level soars from here and never decreases. EACH DANCER HAS his or her own · series of movements; these join from time to time, even though one dancer is performing with a different rhythm and a different type of movement. While one dancer works with a small movement and self-contained absorption, another boldly cuts a diagonal across the stage with a leap or run, taking the place of yet another dancer who has moved to another area of the stage. · _Much of Sharir's choregraphy incorporates movement from everyday life. Some movements are explicit, such as gestures borrowed from the deaf sign language. Others are more abstact: a woman who seems to be removing a pair of pants and a shirt -or is she just stretching downward and upward? With Menger's music in "From Right to Left," a completely different atmosphere is created; it is one of those rare moments when music and dance combine into one inseparable element. The dance has an almost animal quality that Menger's music accentuates with eerie, rhythmic pulsations. THE DANCE SEEMS to be made for Jimmy Turner, one of Sharir's finest dancers. With the first phrase of music, Turner stands motionless against a pink backdrop; abruptly, a woman runs onstage and into his arms. Turner is totally immersed in every element of Sharir's choreography. Smaller movements have just as much impact as huge jumps. Back handsprings and arm presses to the floor are not gymnastic feats when he executes them -they are part of a continual flow-of-dance -movement. · "From Right to Left" allowed the three men, Turner, Mario Illi and Robert McMahon, an opportunity to show the full range of their abilities. They dance together as a unit, showing an audience not only their technical ability but their immediate reactions to movement. "Quadruped" is a duet performed by Dee McCandless and Y acov Sharir. As in " From Right to Left," the movement is rhythmic and low to the ground, emphasizing heavy foot contact with the floor. But the similarities end there. Photos by Lucian Perkins Rosie Serna and Robert McMahon (above) perform ACCOMPANIED BY A flute and drum, thfs dance is full of quick precise footwork. The two dancers never touch, yet they are perfectly attuned to each other. ·Playfully, one dancer executes movement, then the other dances, and just when the energy is at its highest they dance together. The upper body of both dancers is quiet and calm throughout the rapid patterns. McCandless commands the stage, though. Her exuberance and teasing manner never falter and she seems to get infinite pleasure from the whirlwind pace of "Quadruped." The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company proved that they are not a company to be dismissed. On the contrary, . they are a company that demands respect and distinction. The company's clear and direct interpretation of Sharir's intelligent choreography provided an evening of quality modern dance. Choreographer beats communication limits Three different sets of dancers scattered about the modern dance studio in the Drama Building run through segments of dances. They stop from time to time to perfect movements, turning to each other for advice and all is conducted in absolute silence. The only sounds are breathing and contact with the floor. Spectrum choreographer Yacov Sharir These are the eight members of the Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company. At the center of this activity is Yacov Sharir, artistic director and choreographer of the only dance company for the deaf in the United States. Sharir, born in Morocco, began his professional dance training in Israel with the Batscheva Dance Company. He danced for 15 years before he felt ready to choreograph for professionals, wanting to accumulate enough knowledge to involve friends and colleagues in a quality work. ' HE WAS TOURING-WITH the Israeli Deaf Dance Com pany as rehearsal director when Janette Norman ap proached Sharir at the World Congress for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., about forming a company in the U.S . . for deaf dancers. Norman is vice president of Spectrum, an Austin-based ·national organization whose services for adult deaf ar tists include a performing acting company, Visual Ar tists, a published newsletter and now a dance company. The organization is led and controlled by the deaf artists. Currently a "dance specialist" at the University -a collegiate euphemism for a guest artist -Sharir says that the company was formed "to provide an equal oppor tunity for the deaf to compete. We had to overcome the limitation of communication, and we have solved that. So, there is no reason for them not to dance.'' IN NOVEMBER OF 1976 Sharir traveled throughout the United States, contacting deaf people who were in terested in dancing. Few of those he interviewed had ever danced before. Dancers were selected, he says, on the basis of "physical abilities, desire to dance, enthusism and ambition. To begin with, that is enough." Because his dancers, who range in ·age from 20 to 26, are deaf, they cannot rely on music for cues or inter pretive inspiration. Visual communi<;:ation is emphasized instead·, and this changes' the concept of Sharir's ballets~ He "relates to music as a separate and importanfpart of a dance. It may support theme and subject and add color to the choreography, but it is not to be followed. If there is any interaction between music and dance, it is only by chance. Often times I do not join the two until the night of the performance. "Occasionally the dancers may pick up cues from the music vibrated through the air, but they don't need it. We emphasize visual communication and only use vibrations when we can't see each other." SHARIR DOES NOT LIKE to predetermine the number of dances he choreographs each year. He scorns celebrated choreographers who have "systems for putting ballets together. They become technical, mechanical and have nothing to say. I need time to fulfill myself as an artist and recharge my batteries. I am stimulated by the ·deaf -their gestures, signs and expressions are so visual.'' He opens the doors to other quality choreographers and ideas. The company has performed with the Dallas Ballet, exchanged choreography ideas with the Hartford Ballet, and included Dee McCandless and Gene Menger as guest artists in last Saturday's show. Sharir says, "I chose Dee and Gene because, observing their activities, I learned that in their art form they are quality people. I want to create an environment where no one feels threatened. On the contrary, we cooperate to come up with a better product, and Dee is just an excellent dancer. " Dancers and choreographers in Austin isolate themselves into individual activities. In such a small community I find it unnecessary. Dancers need to get together and form bigger, more quality groups. They are too uncooperative." The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company is not only an opportunity for...deaf dancers to perform, it is an indication of what a dance experience can be in Austin for 1 ~ an audience, as well as for other dancers. • .... ..... dance J Troupe performance provoking By KATHY SAMON Last Saturday night at the Paramount, the Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company demonstrated that deaf people are just as capable of dancing as those who hear. Within minutes the company proved that modern dance, in its highest element, is a direct emotional form of communication. Compounded with artistic director and choreographer Yacov Sharir's intelligent, charging choreography, the result was one of the most provoking and passionate evenings of dance that Austin audiences have been a part of in years. Dramatic ability is the crux of the eight dancers' success as performers. They are not technical virtuosos -most of them have only been dancing one year. Yet they have the ability to allow choreography to unfold in clear, startling shapes without strain or over-acting. The dancers feel and understand their choreography so completely that their bodies are not just used for motion, they become a total means of body language and interpretation. "CONTINUATION IN Silence," · performed without accompaniment, demonstrates the groundwork of Sharir's concept that music is not necessary to supply the mood of a piece. The silence also projects a deaf person's point of view as dancer and performer. This dance and "From Right to Left" are studies of the coordination of time and motion in relation to space. In each abstract dance many activities coexist simultaneously with different timing. Sharir explains that the relationship between dancers, what is created around them, forms emotional content. Visual images are clear and direct and the mood is set from the first mo~ement of "Continuation of Silence" through these images. When two dancers lying side by side slowly raise and entwine their arms, space has texture that allows these forms weight and definite presence. It is only the beginning -the energy level soars from time to ·time, even though one dancer is performing with a different rhythm and a different type of movement. While one dancer works with a small movement and self-contained absorption, another boldly cuts a diagonal across the stage with a leap or run, taking the place of yet another dancer who has moved to another area of the stage. Much of Sharir's choregraphy incorporates movement from everyday life. Some movements are explicit, such as gestures borrowed from the deaf sign language. Others are more abstact: a woman who seems to be removing a pair of pants and a shirt -or is she just stretching downward and upward? With Menge,r's music in "From Right to Left,'' a completely different atmosphere is created; it is one of those rare moments when music and dance combine into one insep,arable ·element. The dance has an almost animal quality that Menger's music accentuates with eerie, rhythmic pulsations. THE DANCE SEEMS to be made for Jimmy Turner, one of Sharir's finest dancers. With the first phrase of music, Turner stands motionless against a pink backdrop; abruptly, a woman ·runs onstage and into his arms. Turner is totally immersed in every element of Sharir's choreography. Smaller movements have just as much impact as huge jumps. Back handsprings and arm presses to the floor are not gymnastic feats when he executes them -they are part of a continual flow--Of-dance movement. "From Right to Left" allowed the three men, Turner, Mario Illi and Robert McMahon, an opportunity to show the full range of their ll,bilitie~. They dan~e _ together as a unit, showing an audience not only their technical ability but their immediate reactions to movement. "Quadruped" is a duet performed by Dee McCandless and Yacov Sharir. As in "From Right to Left," the movement is here and never decreases. · rhythmic and low to the ground, emphasizEACH DANCER HAS his or her own ing heavy foot contact with the floor. But series of movements; these join from the similarities end there. Photos by Lucian Perkins Rosie Serna and Robert McMahon (above) perform . ACCOMPANIED BY A flute and drum, this dance is full of quick precise f.ootw...9fk. The__ two danc~rs never touch, yet they are perfectly attuned to each other. Playfully, one dancer executes movement, then the other dances, and just when the energy is at its highest they dance together. The upper body of both dancers is quiet and calm throughout the rapid patterns. McCandless commands the stage, though. Her exuberance and teasing manner never falter and she seems to get infinite----pleasure from . the whirlwind . pace of "Quadruped." The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company proved that they are not a company to be dismissed. On the contrary, . they are a company that demands respect and distinction. The company's clear and direct interpretation of Sharir's intelligent choreogn1phy provided an evening of quality modern dance. Choreographer beats communication limits Three different sets of dancers scattered ·about the modern dance studio in the Drama Building run through segments of dances. They stop from time to time to perfect movements, turning to each other for advice and all is conducted in absolute silence. The only sounds are breathing and contact with the floor. These are the eight members of the Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company. At the center of this activity is Yacov Sharir, artistic director and choreographer of the only dance company for the deaf in the United States. Sharir, born in Morocco, began his professional dance training in Israel with the Batscheva Dance Company. He danced for 15 years before he felt ready to choreograph for professionals, wanting to accumulate enough knowledge to involve friends and colleagues in a quality work. HE WAS TOURING-WITH the Israeli Deaf Dance Com pany as rehearsal director when Janette Norman ap proached Sharir at the World Congress for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., about forming a company in the U.S. for deaf dancers. Norman is vice president of Spectrurn,.an Austin-based national organization whose services for adult deaf ar tis ts include a performing acting company, Visual Ar tists, a published newsletter and now a dance company. The organization is led and controlled by the deaf artists. Currently a "dance specialist" at the University -a collegiate euphemism for a guest artist -Sharir says that the company was formed "to provide an equal oppor tunity for the deaf to compete. We had to overcome the limitation of communication, and we have solved that. So, there is no reason for them not to dance." IN NOVEMBER OF 1976 Sharir traveled throughout the United States, contacting deaf people who were in terested in dancing. Few of those he interviewed had ever danced before. Dancers were selected, he says, on the basis of "physical abilities, desire to dance, enthusism and ambition. To begin with, that is enough." Because his dancers, who range in age from 20 to 26, are deaf, they cannot rely on music for cues or inter pretive i~spir~tion. Visual c;ommunication is emphasized He "relates to music as a separate and important part of a dance. It may support theme and subject and add color tothechoreography,butitisnottobefollowed.Ifthereis any interaction between music and dance, it is only by chance. Oftentimes I do not join the two until the night of the performance. "Occasionally the dancers may pick up cues from the music vibrated through the air, but they don't need it. We emphasize visual communication and only use vibrations when we can't see each other." SHARIR DOES NOT LIKE to predetermine the number of dances he choreographs each year. He scorns celebrated choreographers who have "systems for putting ballets together. They become technical, mechanical and have nothing to say. I need time to fulfill myself as an artist and recharge my batteries. I am stimulated by the deaf -their gestures, signs and expressions are so visual." He opens the doors to other quality choreographers and ideas. The company has performed with the Dallas Ballet, exchanged choreography ideas with the Hartford Ballet, and included Dee McCandless and Gene Menger as guest artists in last Saturday's show. Sharir says, "I chose Dee and Gene because, observing their activities, I learned that in their art form they are quality people. I want to create an environment where no one feels threatened. On the contrary, we cooperate to come up with a better product, and Dee is just an excellent dancer. "Dancers and choreographers in Austin isolate themselves into individual activities. In such a small community I find it unnecessary. Dancers need to get together and form bigger, more quality groups. They are too uncooperative. " The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company is not only an opportunity for.deaf dancers to perform, it is an indication of what a dance experience can be in Austin for 1 Spectrum choreographer Yacov Sharir instead, and this changes thetconcept of Shatir''s ballets! ·an audience, as well as for other dancers. J "' ·~ __,_..... ,.. ,\ ,.,., .. .. .· ........"......... ..........-.... _.,.. , ___ ··-·-"'-&,.........._-...... C6 Austin American-Statesman Tuesday. April 10, 1979 • Spectrum offers ure excitement· By NANCY KAUFMAN Perhaps the most exciting performances in the Special to the Aner1can St atesman Spectrum company came from two of the men, Jimmy Walker and Robert J. McMahon. Walker, The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Compaa new and astonishing dancer, can execute mid·ny's weekend performance at the Paramount air flips and turns beautifully suited to Sharir'sTheatre, which included a duet devised and pe'roften acrobatoc choreography, taking gymnastics f ormed by guest Dee McCandless and artistic diinto the realm of art with · his exquisite natural rector-choreographer Yacov Sharir, was one of timing. McMahon is quite a different kind of per·the most exciting and moving dance events I have former; an actor-dancer who gives each moveever seen. ment an emotional weight. He is becoming, too, an · The company has taken a marvelous leap foradagio dancer, a specialist in the subtle art of ward into the dance world; they have become a partnering. · company that can perform anywhere, and be ap· preciated and criticized alongside hearing compa· Another example of 'remarkable partnering . nies. This is formidable progress, and the exciting came in the McCandless/Sharir duet. part of it all is how wonderful they are to watch. "Quadraped," is an elegant work based on folk dance, deploying many of its conventions and itsSharir's insistence on individuality and the freerhythmic footpatterns to great advantage. Mcdom he allows with timing encourage his perform· Candless danced with insouciance, charm, preci·ers to take both emotional and physical risks in sion and great beauty, with Sharir her perfect performance. Each dancer contributes a personal dancing partner. characteristic, be it technical precision. lyricism, sensuality, courage, drama, or sheer virtuosity. They were accompanied by Gene Menger and Jerry Willingham. who played along with other In the two new dances Spectrum performed and musicians for the company's last dance. Their inin his recent piece for the Hartford BaJlet, Sharir tensely and seductively percussive score was aseems to have moved inward from outside influ· fabulous backdrop for the music. conjuring imaences, reaching into his own roots. / ges of Walpurgis Night and Witches' Sabbaths Although his dances are abstract movement pie· ccs, they are full of feeling. Where formerly there This kind of separate and equal music works was a sense that his subject matter was aliena· well for Spectrum's dancers whether taped or tion, manipulation and anxiety, the new dances live; when live, the performance gains a dim en· seem to be about partnership, communication, sion which makes the work complete. Because Mi· and community. When the dancers break from chael Uthoff's "Ode to Jose" is a dance about a their separate movment sequences to dance in piece of music, Pachabel's "Canon in D,' it did not unison, there is a strong statement about shared work as well as the rest of the program. There we effort. The work is complex, intelligent, and ac· saw fine dancing to fine choreography, well cos· cessible, engaging on a first viewing, still more so turned, artfully lighted and accompanied by origion a second. nal music. It was a night to remember. Austin American-Statesman Tuesday, April 13, 1982 • Deaf dance unites old, new pioneers .. By NANCY .VREELAND Special to the American-Statesman 0, pioneers! · The American Deaf Dance Company's Sunday night program at the Paramount Theater revived the work of one dance pioneer and revealed the work of nine current groundbreakers, the · deaf dancers. Ten or 15 years from now, when deaf students will be able to study dance as a matter of course and the American Deaf Dance Company will be able pick its members from a field of trained talent, it will be because the current founding members dared to become dancers in the first place. On their Sunday night program at the Paramount Theater, the company recogn~zed another pioneer, Helen Tamiris, who was a contemporary of Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey.In the 1930s these women, each in ]\er own way, invented the forms we know as ''modern dance." Tamiris was known for her use of American ethnic themes. At the Paramount, a visiting dancer, Bruce Becker, performed her "Negro Spirituals." Although a few of the Tamiris hip rolls looked a bit odd on him, ·Becker adroitly captured both the spirit of the six spirituals and the purity of the early modern gestures. To see him isolate an arm or a hand was to remember what modern dance used to be all about. Before and after Becker, the American Deaf Dance Company performed works by Yacov Sharir, their founder and artistic director. First came "Circles,'' last seen here in Hogg Auditorium. Second was "Haiku," an inpenetrable new work of great integrity but daunting density. It included readings by Karen Kuykendall of translated Greek haiku with sign language interpretation by Kathy Weldon, an original piano score by Kathryn Mishell, and dancing. Much of the dance made use of props: five sheets of metal -the kind that makes thunder noises -large enough to cover a dancer, and flexible enough to be wrapped and unwrapped. Various activities involving revealment and concealment were central to the piece. The glue for "Haiku" was the Mishell score. It captured the mood and the style of the poetry. Austin American-Statesman unday, February 14, 1982 p€af compan-r m kes dance a celebration madhouse or a state institution, places where, in Special to the American-Stat,esman Re iew another time, these vibrant dancers might have spent their days. r.fhe American Deaf Dance Company danced a ·desert and there is no one there to hear. These They leapt into' the air,. joyous, circling theremarkable, luminous piece of Debora~ ·Hay;1 s ' were the cries of a deaf man. stage, and they were wonderful to behold. called "Heaven/below" Friday night. It was From that point, "Heaven/below" seemed like , enough to restore your faith in life and att, at leaSt a triumphant self-portrait of co-conspirators, of The UT Dance Repertory Theatre followedfor a time. celebrants, of vindicators of the faith that their with Sharon Vasquez' "Nimbus," and the deaf As Hay's rapturous, painterly images were teacher Yacov Sharir has placed in them. Those dancers returned with Sharir's "Variations," but splashed across the stage by the nine dancers, one white costumes could have been the uniforms in a everything seemed pale after "Ht:~ve~/below."could·see that this was not a Hay piece, nor was it an American Deaf Dance Company piece, but both. The dancers lent themselves -no, they fully gave themselves -to the choreography and to the audience, and Hay in turn was generous with them. She allowed them to be themselves. Hay's hall mark ease and fluidity were replaced with this companyts·J:µillmark ·irifensity and drama. Dance has not cometo them lightly or easily. They do not present a .Piece, tfrey take it up and thrust it upon us. When the dancers in their white cotton shirts and trousers took the stage and started to dance, one looked only at the startling pictures they were creating. They moved as o~e organism and one no more thought about their personalities than one thinks about the personalities ()f blobs of paint on a canvas. But partly through the piece, a shift in tone oc curred. As the dancers were ranged across the back of tbe stage in various crouching poses, Jim my Turner clutched his head and began to utter ee;rie cries and howls, faint yet pier¢isg,. Tn e ere the.sounds a tree makes when it fa'lls in the CE American Deaf Dance. Company speaks louder tilan music. Page 8 4.. • • ~. •,, I' SC .Staff Writer of The News FORT WORTH -The amazing thin·g about the American Deaf Dance Company is that it exists at all. The astonishing thing about it is that it is extraordinary. To the vast majority of performers and audiences, music is an il_lseparable part of dance. It provides the foundation on which most choreographic works are built. Most dancers align their bodies and articulate their movements to the music's flo~ and rhythms. They depend on the moods and cadences of a musical score to support and lead them To dance without hearing the accompanying·. score would seem a near impossible task, but the dan~ers. of the American Deaf Dance Company, which appeared Saturday at the Scott Theater, ac- omplished the task brilliantly. THE DANCERS respond to the music's vibra ibns and visual cues from one another. The small company (nine dancers are listed in the program but only seven performed Saturday) performed with.inspired vigor and dedication. It is both flamboyant and technically robust. The --members move like living sculptui:e and seize the audiences' attention with their beauty and s~rength. Yacov Sharir, ADDC artistic director and principal choreographer, obviously has made no concessions to the dancers' deafness in his works. He has not reduced the interaction of the members, nor has he simplified the complex groupings that are so much a part of today's modern . dance scene. Nothing like that was necessary. The dancers always were on the beat of the music and sensitive to the mood of the work. The company, based in Austin, is only 6 years old, but it shows the seasoning of far more experienced groups. It is the only company of its kind in the United States, and it operates on the philosophy that dance is an art form especially suited to the deaf because it aesthetically utilizes the major vehicle of deaf communication -the body. The dancers not only operate on that philosophy, they also prove the wisdom and truth of it. he three works performed Saturday were highly esoteric, but beautifully devised and radiantfy presented. e Shapes was extremely abstrac . seve-n ancers moved slowly and sensuously, almost as if they were walking underwater, creating one athletic tableau after another. At times they contorted their bodies into almost painful ·positions ~ only to form a perfectly fluid line the next mo-. ment. There was a remarkable: unity of movement throughout the work that was almost combatant at times and quite pastoral at others. Ifthe work's meaning was obscure, its sheer beauty was stunningly evident. · In Desiderata, Chuck Davis has created a striking solo. It was danced Saturday b}", Jimmy Turner. The program does not relate 'furner's background, but he is an enormously gifted dancer. He was strongly self-assured, supple of body, and he projected great individuality. He moved cleanly and with razor sharpness, giving the work fury and passion. · THE CHOREOGRAPHY for Circles is not particularly inventive, and perhaps that is intentional. It was a group exercise of no great distinction. What made the piece so unusual was the fact that the only sound accompanying it was the frivolous jingle of wrist and ankle bracelets worn by each dancer. The work was a marvel of simplic· ity, and it was danced with great authority. ·Its only problem was that it was far too long. An idea such as this works only briefly. But the dancers did not betray its fragility. They performed as if it was the most brilliant of works, and they seemed ' totally into the spirit of it. Also on the program was The Fragmenting, performed by members of Ballet Concerto, a Fort Worth group headed by Margo Dean. Choreographed by Katharyn Horne, it is an interpretation of William Blake's line: "And I be seized and given into the hand of ..ny own selfhood." In contrast to tbe ADDC, the Concerto group was quite pale. The work also was weak. It was performed at the Southwestern Regional Ballet Festival in Houston earlier this month. I don't know how it fared there, but as it was performed Saturday, there was nothing about it to recommend. First of all, it is a hybrid. Its basically modern style is riddled with balletic steps, some even as obvious as pointe work. Second, it never came to terms with its subject, opting for wild, empty mannerisms rather than meaningful expression. It was completely inconsistent and worked neither as an experiment nor as dance. _-.:.._______,. Sunday, Sept. 28, 1980 Deaf y ELIZABETH MclLHANEY · Light Entertainment Writer If a tree falls in a forest and no one is present to he~ · , do it make l;\..p.oise? -· person dance ithe can't hear the music? ebster's Dictionary defines dance: To perform a rhythmic an t rned succession of bodily movements, usually to music. Note the word usually. That means not always. The Amerjcan Deaf Dance Company of Austin falls into the category tlefined by that term, usually, and it proved Saturday night at the Carver Community Cultura~ Center that being able to move and having an internal sense of grace, rhythm and harmony are enough to create excellent dance. Music was played for three of the four numbers, but it was only for the audience's benefit. Music is only played at the company's performances, never during rehearsals~ Watching the incredibly attractive company members move through intricate choreography and knowing they couldn't hear the music their timing matched so perfectly was awesome indeed. Watching audience members hold their hands high as they applauded each number, and sometimes segments within a number, so the dancers could see their hands clapping in praise, was heart-warming. "Circles" opened the program. Performed in si· lence, it forced concentration upon the sheer energy of the dancers as they moved through the con· temporary choreography. Music enhances dance but it can distract from the ancers as well. This number in silence, save for the jangling of the bangle bracelets each dancer wore, was a delicate focus on the beauty of the human body and what rhythms it can achieve "thout the constant beat musical instruments provide. Jimmy Turner danced ~o Fred Werner's version of the spoken song, "Desiderata." His mag ·ficent black body in beautiful contrast to white pants and coal-black jewelry, Turner left a feeling of breathlessness with his powerful movements, his commanding stage charisma d s leopard- THE SAN ANTONIO LIGHT wesome like grace. "Wadi" was d ced to electronically-synthesized music by Gene Menger that included simulated storm segments. The dancers began and ended the number on the floor, with slithering snake movements that gre into distorted body imagery and finally into obot-like, mecha istic choreography that perfectly suited the staccato beats of the music. The program closed with "From Right to eft," danced to Oriental music by Menger. 'This number allo ed some of the most creative movement of the evening, including a short solo, once again, by Turner that drew impulsive applause. Austin American-Statesman Tuesday, April 13, 1982 Deaf dance unites old, new pioneers By NANCY VREELAND Special to the Amerlca,n-Statesman 0, pioneers! The American Deaf Dance Company's S11nday night program at the Paramount Theater revived the work of one dance pioneer and revealed the work of nine current groundbreakers, the deaf dancers. Ten or 15 years from now, when deaf students will be able to study dance as a matter of course and the American Deaf· Dance Company will be able pick its members from a field of trained talent, it will be because the current founding members dared to become dancers in the first place. On their Sunday night program at the Paramount Theater, the company recognized another pioneer, Helen Ta- Review miris, who was a contemporary of Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey.In the 1930s these women, each in her own way, invented the forms we know as "modern dance." Tamiris was known for her use of American ethnic themes. At the Paramount, a visiting dancer, Bruce Becker, performed her "Negro Spirituals." Although a few of the Tamiris hip rolls looked a bit odd on him, Becker adroitly captured both the spirit of the six spirituals and the purity of the early modern gestures. To see him isolate an arm or a hand was to remember what modern dance used to be all about. Before and ~fter Becker, the American Deaf Dance Company performed works by Yacov Sharir, their founder and artistic director. First came "Circles," last seen here in Hogg Auditorium. Second was "Haiku," an inpenetrable new work of great integrity but daunting density. It included readings by Karen Kuykendall of translated Greek haiku with sign language interpretation by Kathy Weldon, an original piano score by Kathryn Mishell, and dancing. Much of the dance made use of props: five sheets of metal -the kind that makes thunder noises -large enough to cover a dancer, and flexible enough to be wrapped and unwrapped. Various activities involving revealment and concealment were central to the piece. The glue for "Haiku" was the Mishell score. It captured the mood and the style of the poetry. • Austin American-Statesman, Oct. 13. 1979, Page 25 Ballet passes ·modern te t By NANCY KAUFMAN Special to the American-Statesman Austin Civic Ballet's "Fall Gala" really is a celebration, for the company has taken on new challenges and formed new alliances. For the first time, it is dancing at Hogg Auditorium under the co-sponsorship of the UT Cultural Entertainment Committee. In addition to this nice cooperation of • "town" and "gown," there is ·a sharing review among dance companies. The second piece on the program is choreographed and costumed by Yacov Sharir, artistic director of the American Deaf Dance Company,and is set to "Percussion Concerto No. 2," a new piece by Gene Menger and Dee McCandless of Invisible Inc. The score is ·compellingly percussive, with hypnotic drums and xylophone, awakening a rhythmic pulse even in a sedentary audience. The dancers move with it, depending on their own sense of time rather than specific musical cues. The Civic per formed Sharir's piece full out. They leaped, they lifted -theytook possession of space with authority and dash. Sharir both stretched them and used their established ballet skills. The women were especially effective, particularly in a segmentwhere they flew across the stage in lovely leaps. Their air was almost one of abandon. Company artistic co-director Eugene Slavin also used his female corps and principals to advantage in his lfallet, set to Lizst's "Rhapsody_. " The plotless work is fuJl of flashy· lifts, fancy partnering and fireworks . The program, which will be repeated at 8 tonight in Hogg, opened with Igor Youskevitch's version of "La Fille Mal Gardee." Alexandra Nadal, another artistic co-director, is Lise. Although the rather hammy ballet drags a bit in spots, her pretty dancing was a treat. Austin .Ameriron-(:· tnt~smon 1979 C1 Spectrum I offers pure exciteme By NANCY KAUFMAN Special to the Anerican·Statesman The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Compa· n · weekend performance at the Paramount Theatre, which included a duet devised and performed by guest Dee McCandless and artistic director-choreographer Yacov Sharir, was one of the most exciting and moving dance events I have ever seen. The company has taken a marvelous leap forward into the dance world; they have become a company that can perform anywhere, and be ap preciated and criticized alongside hearing companies. This is formidable progress, and the exciting part of it all is how wonderful they are to watch. Sharir's insistence on individuality and the freedom he allows with timing encourage his performers to take both emotional and physical risks in performance. Each dancer contributes a personal characteristic, be it technical precision, lyricism, sensuality, courage, drama, or sheer virtuosity. In the two new dances Spectrum performed and in his recent piece for the Hartford Ballet, Sharir seems to have moved inward from outside influ ences, reaching into his own roots. Although his dances are abstract movement pieces, they are full of feeling . Where formerly there was a sense that his subject matter was alienation, manipulation and anxiety, the new dances seem to be about partnership, communication, and community. When the. dancers brea~ from their separate movment sequences· to dance in unison, there is a strong statement about shared effort. The work is compl(!X, intelligent, and accessible engaging on a first Yi~wing, still more so Perhaps the most exciting performances in the Spectrum company came from two of the men, Jimmy Walker and Robert J. McMahon. Walker, a new and astonishing dancer, can execute mid-' air flips and turns beautifully suited to Sharir's ~ often acrobatoc choreography, taking gymnastics into the realm of art with his exquisite natural "' timing. McMahon is quite a different kind of per former, an actor-dancer who gives each move ment an emotional weight. He is becoming, too, a adagio dancer, a specialist in the subtle art of partnering. Another example of remarkable partnering came in the McCandless/Sharir duet. "Quadraped," is an elegant work based on folk dance, deploying many of its conventions and its rhythmic footpatterns to great advantage. Me-Candless danced with insouciance, charm, precision and great beauty' . with Sharir her p~rfect dancing partner. They were accompanied by Gene Menger and Jerry Willingham, who played along with other · musicians for the company's last dance. Their in-.i. tensely and seductively percussive score was a · fabulous backdrop for the music, conjuring ima· ges of Walpurgis Night and Witches' Sabbaths. This kind of separate .and equal music works well for Spectrum's dancers whether taped or live; when live, the performance gains a dimen· sion which makes the work complete. Because Michael uthoff's "Ode to Jose" is a dance about a piece of music, Pachabel's "Can.on in D,' it did not work as well as the rest of the program. There we saw fine dancing to fine choreography, well cos-turned, artfully lighted and accompanied by orig1-" ___on__nd.-~-~~n.;;:;:a"-L:music. Itwas a night to reme .!' b_er. _a~Js·e,_.c...::o..:...._..,.;...._...:..-~·~~~~~'~:::.:-~.;;i.:;:::,.;.·ctnce Company Saturday night at Hogg Auditorium an exciting event for both the deaf and dance · mmunities. Composed entirely of deaf dancers, the ' >ECTIW:\1I company is the first such dance troupe H·r formed in the Ullited States. Saturday night's formance proved the viability of such an exp riment. Although deaf, the company's communication as dancers is potentially as strong as any hearing company. Yacov Sharir, the company's artistic director, choreographed a full evening's ballet, "Interactions 12 3 4, ~· for the premier. Based upon his observations of deaf expression, the dance explored a variety of human interactions and emotions. Situations ranged fr 1m tender interludes to hostile confrontations. Underlying all the interactions was a tremendous sensuality and intense expression. The composition of the ballet was very sculptural. Dancers used their bodies to form geometric shapes on several planes that bisected, intermingled, and stood alone in space. It was as if they had taken an emotion and transformed it into an abstract shape. Indeed, the dance looked like a moving sculpture to be viewed from different perspectives. So there was a very strong visual im pact. But the eloquent use of hands and arms and the dancers' facial express1ons added an emotional impact just as strong as the visual. The contrasts between mood and movement, music and silence, individual dancers' timing and that of the group-all contributed depth, ·texture and dynamics to the ballet. Unifying all movements was the theme, with its endless variations. The choice of music also added excitement. In contrast with the very human subject was the primeval and fut~ristic sounds of modern percussive compositions by Marius Constant and Carlos Chavez. The juxtaposition of the music with the dancers' movements was often startling. Another unique quality of SPECTRUM's performance was the strong sense of ensemble exhibited by the company while also maintaining individual identities. Each dancer displayed some special quality of mo\'ement and expression, so that it was hard to ..:ingle out just one or two for exceptional performances . This is a rare quality in dance companies, and it will be interesting to see if SPECTRUM retains it. In the first segment of the ballet, Rita Corey walked 'Nith slow measured steps across the bare stage, p using every few feet. There was no music, only Corey's halting movements. Wearing a long, flowing gown, she looked as if she were sleepwalking in a dream. After a few minutes she stopped and lay on the floor, where she remained throughout the dance. Loud, metallic music began. One by one, the other d· 1cers Pntered from both sides of the stage. With their arms stretched up in front of them, wrists bent down, they progressed across stage in random directions. As they walked, they bent one knee and movements were large and long. Gradually, all dancers assumed a position on stage and became still. Then they all pointed a finger in the air, seemed to grab a handful of vibrations, held them in clenched fists, and released them in a rippling movement of their hands. From this moment, unison movements broke into segmented patterns. Dancers dispersed into groups of two and three or danced alone. "rn one sequence, there was a series of confrontations and rejections, then angry reactions. These actions between individuals evolved into group actions of acceptance and involvement. Dancers intertwined, pulled, pushed, caressed, broke away from each other. There was a continual interaction of bodies and movements. In the second segments, Mario Illi and Linda Herenchak danced a powerfully passionate pas de deux. Beginning with a rather erotic sequence on the floor, the dancers suddenly pushed away from each other. Movements became aggressive and jerky as the dancers interlocked and broke away. They struck at · each other, wrestled, ran away, then rejoined. The dance ended with Illi carrying Herenchak stiffly across the stage, much as he did Corey in the first segment, then walking back across stage alone. For the third segment, Yacov Sharir improvised a dance to music by Miles Davis, using the expressions and gestures the deaf dancers had been using. His style was largely balletic, but modern as opposed to classic. His movements tended to be sharper and quicker than the deaf dancers', and his expressions resembled those of a mime. Throughout his dance, there was an interplay of lyrical, flowing gestures with rough, fractured motions. Subtle articulations of his hands and body were transformed into large actions. Balletic movements such as turns and beats were broken by falling to the floor or crumpling the body. In the fourth segment of the ballet, the company performed more complex unison movements. The one exception was Corey, who remained outside the group. She walked among the dancers but never joined them. Their actions served as a foil for hers. Most of her actions revolved around a chair she brought onstage. She walked around it, sat in it, stood with one foot on it. While the others interacted with each other, she interacted with the inanimate object, confining her movements mostly to her torso and arms. In one scene, the other dancers performed sequentially in slow motion and subdued light while Corey performed frantic, staccato movements around the chair with a spotlight on her. The contrast provoked images of dark, cool water flowing beside dry sand being blown away in noonday sun. Again, there was no music, only movement. The ballet ended in darkness without any sense of resolution. As in an epic, there was a feeling that the action would continue even though the audience wouldn't see it. The next ballet that SPECTRUM Deaf Dance Company performs could well begin where their t1 tchPd diagonally, then dropped to the floor. ThP.ir first one ended. AustinCitizen Vol. 15 No. 79 .\ustin. Tt•xa"i Tuesday, April 22, 1980 25 Cents Deaf Dance Company exuberant, disciplined By JUDI HAZLETT Citizen Dance Writer Last Friday and Saturday nights at Hogg Auditorium the American Deaf Dance Company took time out from a busy schedule of national touring engagements and joint performances to give its home town a look at the progress it has made since last April's Paramount performance. This progress seems considerable. Their program, which was an ambitious undertaking, consisted of two of director Yacov Sharir's works , "From Right to Left" and "Circles," and premieres of two works by outside choreographers Dee McCandless, of Austin, and Chuck Davis, of New York City. Sharir, who took over the directorship of ADDC in 1976 when he came here by special invitation, has much to be proud of. His company is polished, disciplined and energetic. His dancers immediately project exuberance. They are excited about what they are doing and equally excited about presenting it to the audience. With flattering costumes which were enhanced by the expert lighting handled by Larry Jamison and the obviously well-prepared dancers, the entire evening went without a hitch and provided us with an especially warm and satisfying evening of modern dance. Possibly the only flaw was in the musical accompaniment of Gene Menger and Friends. Their rythmical sound effects on the synthesizer and other instruments somehow managed to be so loud that they were uncomfortable and distracted from the business at hand. Sharir's two pieces were characteristic of his athletic, head-on attacks to the dance. "From Right to Left" was filled with lifts, gymnastic tumbles, running jumpers and the juxtaposition of classicalmodern movements which Sharir likes to use in exploring different kinds of motion. "Circles" was a slight departure from this format. It dwelt quietly on the circle as formed by the dancers' bodies against a background of different patterns of circles projected through lighting effects. Unlike "From · Right to Left," there was no music. Only the sounds of jingling from the ankle braclets worn by each dancer broke the silence, and it was a welcome relief from the ear-splitting ac companiment of the rest of the evening. Sharir's works draw you in with their sensuality, they hold you there with their sheer physicality, and they release you with the feeling that you have been a par ticipant in the action. According to the program, a wadi is a valley or a ravine that is dry except during a rainy season. This was the subject of choreographer Dee McCandless's new piece created for ADDC and aptly titled 'Wadi." McCandless's choreography has a quality of childlike inno~ence about it. Without being terribly complex she can create clever images with the dancers. For example, they become other objects or creatures affected by the circumstances in the wadi. They appear dry and parched, blown like pieces of debris across the stage by a raging wind. The Chuck Davis piece was set to Fred Werner's music and featured Jimmy Turner in a solo. Turner is a wonderfully expressive young man, very athletic and agile and his intensity is contagious. He did a superb job and the ordinarily overly sentimental lyrics set to "Child of the Universe'' were transformed by his performance. . All of the dancers are very attractive and each has unique qualities of appeal. It is hard to say Robert McMahon, performing the American Deaf Dance Company's "Right to Left." . that one stands out much more than another, but Jimmy Turner and Rosie Serna are, without a doubt, commanding presences. Houston hronicie ** Dance Deaf Dance Company gives vibrant, intense performance BYEVERETT EVANS Chronicle Staff Originality of concept and intensity of ,execution are two chief virtues -though by no means the only ones -of the American Deaf Dance Company's cur rent program at Miller Outdoor Theater. In three short works choreographed by founder-artistic director Yacov Sharir, the Austin-based company exhibits a style that is eclectic, but clearly in the "modern dance" vein. Classical and traditional influences surface on occasion, particularly in the closing Right to Left, but much of the choreography is unusually angular or strikingly acrobatic. Several varied dance patterns share the stage simultaneously just as often as the nine-member troupe performs in graceful ' unison. Throughout, the emphasis is · always abstract -on absolute dance, •pure movement. The equally "modern" , musical scores by Barton McLean and , Gene Menger clearly serve the onstage action, as opposed to the reverse. Sharir's choreography strikes a workable balance between the unifying repeti-' tion of certain patterns and an interestsustaining variety of movements and groupings. Also notable in his work: those aforementioned multiple patterns, an intriguing use of pauses (especially in Variations), and perhaps most important of all, a canny capititalization on the individual skills of the dancers. To a person, each member of the company shows admirable agility, precision and feeling. Hence, a mass commendation to· Druscilla Brown, Robin Garrison, Mario Ilh Jr., Bonnie Ramsey, Rosie Serna, Jimmy Turner, Kathy Weldon, Sharon Young and Sharir (who substituted for the indisposed Robert McMahon at Friday's performance). Shapes (subtitled Chains) is in many ways the most impressive work on the bill, with challengingly acrobatic pairings performed in a sensuous, slightly brooding slow motion that displays the terse, muscular control of the dancers. This is a striking example of terpsichorean sculpting, using the dancers' bodies as the material for a variety of human totem poles, seesawing levers, wheels and other interesting structures. There is the same liberating sense one experiences at performances by Pilobolus or the Mummenschanz mime troupe. Variations contains the best uses of the individualized dance patterns, with one party vigorously slapping bare feet to the floor in a sort of shoeless tap dancing, while others express themselves via turns, diagonal sweeps across the stage, etc. Variations finds its dancers joining together only for those thoughtful, audience-gazing pauses. Right to Left, which sometimes projects the gliding air of a folk dance, starts with solo passages for each dancer, and develops gradually into a full-company unison. . This program by the American Deaf Dance Company is always interesting and sometimes arrestingly vibrant. The . final, free performance will be at 8:30 tonight. To buy, sell, or trade. . . Call Miss Classified. She's ready to help you get fast, proven results. Call 2246868. Open weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM. Closed Saturdays-Sundays-Holidays. American Deaf Dance~s Laura Dean Dancers AMl!RICAN Dl!AF DANCI! COMPANY -r;>lrtted by Yabov Sharlr Friday evening at Miiier Outdoor Theatre, with a repetition at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Barton and Prlscllla McLean, r~ldent composers. Dancers: Druscllla Brown, Robin Garrison, Marlo 1111, Jr., Robert McMahon, Bonnie Ramsey, Rosie Serna, Jimmy Turn· er, Kathy Weldon, Sharon Young. Sharlr, B. McLean: Shapes (Chains); Sharlr, B. McLean: Var/a· t/ons; Sharlr, Gene Menger: Right to Left. LAURA Dl!AN DANCERS AND MUSICIANS -Presented by the ISociety for the Performing Arts Frtday evening at St. John's School ·Auditorium, Westhelmer near River Oaks Blvd., with a repetition at 8 p.m. Saturday. Musicians: Paul Epstein, piano, autoharp; Rolf IGroesbeck, piano; David Yoken, autoharp, tympani. Dancers: Sarah Brumgart, Angela Caponigro, Ching Gonzalez, Peter Healey, Erin Matthlessen, Mark Morris. ~ Dean: Music from Night (1980), Dance (1976); Tympani (1980). By CARL CUNNINGHAM Two modern dance companies, each with its own distinctive message, are co~ting back-to-back with two weekend perform.ances ·that offer interesting , novelties to dance-watchers wi h two free nights, dif ~ ficult choices for those with only one. I opted for a sampling of both companies Friday evening. The Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians offered a highly disciplined, though sometimes dizzy , ing display of the monotonously hypnotic choreo 1 graphic esthetic that ouston danc~-watchers saw earlier this, summer itt aCJ f(rey. Ballet performance of Dean's Mgh,t. _ , ,,, . The program at St. John's School began with a throbbing performance of the 13-minute musical score , 1 to Dean's Night, performed by pianists Paul Epstein· : and Rolf Groesbeck. The squarish repetition of a sim-; -1 ple musical figure, gradually evolving into something · else by the periodic alteration -0f one of its elements, -served as a valid introduction to Dean's ··choreogra y. · In dance terms, her style portrays much the same , thing heard in one of your standard Philip Glass or Steve ,;Re ch scores, whtc . ... e the current musical , fad. Dean's Dance illusfra1ed this in ·choreographic terms that reminded o e of children's repetitive stamp-your-foot, clap-your-hands, swing-your-arms, twirl-your-torso-round dance. Whatever its artistic value, it was a marathon f t dancers, who moved with admirable enthusiasm, dom, gracefulness and precision. • Intermission occurred in time to travel over to Miller Theatre and join a sizable crowd that witnessed the impressively synchronized movement of Yacov Sharir's American Deaf Dance Company. The six dancers performing in Sharir's 'Right to Left showed an easy, flowing style of modern dance and admirably neat ensemble. In contrast to the rigid, repetitive grid games of Dean's choreography, Sharir's dance patterns in Right to Left \the only piece I was able to see) emphasized movement that tended to multiply through the company, oft~n progressing with a nice sense oJ se ; quence. _ · .I When one realized that the dancers could not hear the music, their ability to maintain and express the rhythms and tempos of the music with considerable precision be me a truly fascinating facet of their performance. They apparently ended their dance a 1 few seconds behind the tape, but the music and chore, ography were d~signed to mesh in a way that did not make this a serious problem. r•, The company also displayed one exceptionally talented performer -a tall, black male dancer ·Wlth that inherent sense of rhythmic expression and i~ginative movement that magnetizes the dance-watcher's attention. · cs Sntunlay, DPrPmber 12, / 1)8! THE WASHIN.GTON POST ? -,.._,., , . - Performing Arts American DeafDance Reprlnt.ed trom yest.erday•s lat.e editions It didn't look like the same group that danced here three years ago, despite its having basically the same personnel. Then, there was a certain hesitation in technical forays, the dancers seemed isolated from each other and there was no attempt to suppress those random sounds made during physical exertion that "distract" a non-deaf audience from the visual and musical aspects of movement. Thursday night at Gallaudet College, for its second Washington appearance, the American Deaf Dance Company performed boldly -as individuals, partners and ensemble -with not a sign that the hearing of the cast members is impaired. For their great strides in proficiency, the dancers deserved those audience cheers even if one regrets so total a normalization. The program consisted of three works by Yacov Sharir, the company's director and choreographer. In "Shapes," he used the dancers not as characters with bodies but as slowly evolving geometric forms and building blocks. "Right to Left" was a fast-paced set of stage crossings with rhythmically complex steps for a cast of six, plus bravura for the two men, Jimmy Turner and Mario Illi. The performers' phrasing was remarkably clear, and the unison work in the fmale exemplary. Sharir favored acrobatics, even in his subtlest piece -the moody "Variations." He achieved different textures with this type of movement, but the shape of the works was too episodic. · · -George Jackson The Romantics Reprinted from yest.erday's Jat.e editions The Romantics may just provide a bridge between the mutually hostile rock 'n' roll camps of New Wave and heavy metal. Thursday night at the Bayou this Detroit quartet found the common ground between the Ramones' frenzied punk-rock minimalism and the Blue Oyster Cult's frenzied arena-rock extravagance. That common ground was big beat, guitarthumping rock that threw subtlety out the window in favor of visceral excitement. Wearing matching pink le~ther suits, the Romantics shared lead vocals, but Wally Palmar emerged as the clear leader. He had a sense of melody and stage drama that sustained interest in the pounding, primal beat. On the best songs, like "When I Look in Your Eyes," he even created memorable pop hooks. The Tommy Keene Group gets better each month. Thursday night this local quartet combined a hard edged New Wave attack with attrac tive pop melodies like an American version of the Joe Jackson Band. The rhythm section (including Keene, formerly of Razz) built a muscular, danceable throb under- J neath Keene's literate stories of relationships that never quite realize ! their intentions. Keene is a dramatic ' singer who doesn't need the melodramatic echo he relies on. ! -Geoffrey Himes I Wednesday, September 9, 1981 0 THE DAILY TEXAN O Page 13 'ARD Plus' solves modern ·dance's shortage of appear guest artist Robert Small. Small, choreographer-director of the If Sbarir's work was other-worldly, Small's first work was By CHRISTI~§ COLE critically acclimed, New York-based Small Dance Company, other-planetary; with vivid red lighting and an el~~onic score Dally Texan Staff also performed two solos. by Mimaroglu. "Tight, Down ~ght" seer:ied distinctly Mar tian. His emotive, viol_ently variant technique depended. upon . The curtain opened upon Vasquez' "False Starts, Fast small shifts in muscle control and focus as he graphically Modern dance has never appealed to the mass-audience, and cruinges," just high enough to reveal the legs of the dancers, struggled with an imaginary force; bis forte is the theater of with good reason~ Watching the works of a ·choreographer with cavorting randomly in no apparent relation to each other. SUd-th h body e uman . . . . whose technique the audience is unfamiliar is comparable to denly, the curtain was raised and the danc~rs peere_d at ~e Yet the entire evening was simply a prelude to the f!Ml ~ieceunderstanding a play in a foreign tongue which you don't underaudience momentarily as intruders, then continued their vaned which Small choreographed for the entire company, entitled stand. The logiCal result is that most modern dance draws .a experiments with dance. I was reminded by the eight dancers "Patio." Here, technique is not an end in itself, but an unobtrusmall and loyal audience. Finding ways to reach more people is of as many choreographers, each pausing their experiments sive tool of communication. The dance was a classically naran enigma. A popular alternative bas become the repertolj' occasionally to observe the experiments of a peer or to briefly rated story of decadence and deserts: A scarlet temptress company, which presents a smorgasbord of styles and works m corroborate with them. teases five males viciously with a candy cigarrette; and the one evening. 'Ibis sampler approach is ~teedto attract · attentive suitors are one by one shunned. The arrogant teasethe loyal as well as the curious. · Underneath striking differences in tone and staging, chore<>-got hers, however, at the end of the ingenious "Rope." graphers Sharir and Vasquez speak in a similar (Graham-You didn't have to know the first thing about Small or about Saturday night's performance by the Austin Repertory "Limon) dialect of attitudes, contractions and inwardly-focused modern dance to appreciate this story; both the celebrated Dance Company at the Paramount Theatre revealed that turns and poses. Sharir's "Thirteen Haiku, Marcus Aurelius" dance critic and the layman construction worker could find repertory dance can be the solution to modern dance's lack of was the most stylistic piece, creating a Middle-Eastern mys-something to admire in this performance. The piece is an ~appeal. Entitled "Alm Xl_us/' _the evening presented three tique with dim lights, an oriental gong, and a chanting, score. cellent cornerstone for the surprisingly competent Austm -pieces cnofe-Ograpnef some pre-Darwinian slime in th Ga qe1gos, and later to evolve into higher, light-seek' s of life. Looking at the i ,_ ...::;-,"~t-nen d~La.vallad~. Geoffrey Holder, vin-Ailey and Pilobolus came to mind in ' ____,.,,..__,.___ _,.,........~~ ' The Austin Citize. Pag 8-Tuesday, April 22, 1980 Deaf Dan-ce cOmpariy exuberant, disciplined By JUDI HAZLETT Citizen Dance Writer Last Friday and Saturday nights at Hogg Auditorium the American Deaf Dance Company took time out from a busy schedule of national touring engagements and joint performances to give its home town a look at the progress it has made since last April's Paramount performance. This progress seems considerable. Their program, which was an ambitious undertaking, consisted of two of director Yacov Sharir's works, "From Right to Left" and "Circles," and premieres of two works by outside choreographers Dee McCandless, of Austin, and Chuck Davis, of New York City. Sharir, who took over the directorship of ADDC in 1976 when he came here by . special invitation, has much to be proud of. His company is polished, disciplined and energetic. His dancers immediately project exuberance. They are excited about what they are doing and equally excited about presenting it to the audience. With flattering costumes which were enhanced by the expert lighting handled by Larry Jamison and the obviously well-prepared dancers, the entire evening went without a hitch and provided us with an especially warm and satisfying evening of modern dance. Possibly the only flaw was in the musical accompaniment of Gene Menger and Friends. Their rythmical sound effects on the synthesizer and other instruments somehow managed to be so loud that they were uncomfortable and distracted from the business at hand. Sharir's two pieces were characteristic of his athletic, head-on attacks to the dance. "From Right to Left" was filled with lifts, gymnastic tumbles, running jumpers and the juxtaposition of classicalmodern movements which Sharir likes to use in exploring different kinds of motion. "Circles" was a slight departure from this format. It dwelt quietly on the circle as formed by the dancers' bodies against a background of different patterns of circles projected through lighting effects. Unlike "From Right to Left," there was no music. Only the sounds of jingling from the ankle braclets worn by each dancer broke the silence, and it was a welcome relief from the ear-splitting ac companiment of the rest of the evening. Sharir's works draw you in with their sensuality, they hold you there with their sheer physicality, and they release you with the feeling that you have ·been a par ticipant in the action. According to the program, a wadi is a valley or a ravine that is dry except during a rainy season. This was the subject of choreographer Dee McCandless's new piece created for ADDC and aptly titled 'Wadi." McCandless's choreography has a quality of childlike inno~ence about it. Without being terribly complex she can create clever images with the dancers. For example, they become other objects or creatures affected by the circumstances in the wadi. They appear dry and parched, blown like pieces of debris across the stage by a raging wind. The Chuck Davis piece was set to Fred Werner's music and featured Jimmy Turner in a solo. Turner is a wonderfully expressive young man, very athletic and agile and his intensity is contagious. He did a superb job and the ordinarily overly sentimental lyrics set to "Child of the Universe" were transformed by his performance. , All of the dancers are very attractive and each has unique qualities of appeal. It is hard to . say Robert McMahon, performing the American Deaf Dance Company's "Right to Left." that one stands out much more than another, but Jimmy Turner and Rosie Serna are, without a doubt, commanding presences. • Austin American-Statesman, March 3, 1979, Page 12 time out Ballet: In pursuit of style By NANCY KAUFMAN Special to the American ·Statesman In art, as in life, the matter of style is complex and fascinating. Questions about style are central to investigating any work of art, be it a dance, a painting, a poem, or any other kind of work. In dance, style has to do with how we cloak our ideas in movement. Style has to do with manners, with attitudes. It has to do with symbols, too. One of the many ways to think about style is as the conscious delineation of our intuitions. Just as every person has a style -consciously or unconsciously chosen -so does every dance, and every dancer. The Hartford Ballet, which will close its Austin residency with a final performance at 8 tonight at Hogg Auditorium, is a young company still seeking its own particular style. Right now, they dance a remarkable range of review ballets, from contemporary interpretaions of Russian Imperial Ballet to soft, blurry pop dances. They are jacks of all trades, but masters, as yet, of none. · The past year has been one of increasing precision and articulation, but there is still vagueness and some blurriness in Hartford's dancing. I think it may stem from a lack of connection to the music at times, and perhaps to a lack of connection between performers. And often, parts oftheir bodies seem uninvolved with their dancing. Yacov Sharir's new dance, "Percussion Concerto," is set to the compulsively rhythmic music of Paul Salzado. The company commissioned the dance. Sharir and the company have been working on the piece for only two weeks. In its first performance, the dancers seem to be discovering important qualities: lightness and heaviness, rhythm, a nice ease. And at one point, when they jumped into the air slightly jacknifed at the waist, there seemed to be a discovery of the possibility of angularity, and the possibilities of the torso. Sharir's dance is sensitive to the company's own qualities. It may play a special role in the Hartford Ballet's discovery of its own sty1e. ~bttutlsbington tJoS .Ty L,·E Entertainment MONDAY. SEPTEMBER 25 , 19 78 Spectruni Dancers of 1··exas Spectrum: American Deaf Dance Co. is a group of modern dancers from Austin, Tex., which happens to be deaf, but if _ they differ from colleagues who can hear, it is not in thei .ability to dance on the same accent. Spectrum dancers performed "Interactions,'' a four-part work by their director, Israeli choreographer Yakov Sharir, on Saturday at Gallaudet College. The group's tendency to vocalize in strenuous steps is distinctive. Choreographer Sharir has asked the dancers not to suppress the spontaneous sounds-wisely so, because the movement is overly simple for long stretches. The dancers, seldom in contact, jump, bend, flex and clap repeatedly in the same spot, as if memorizing their lessons. Most likely the minimalism is intended to make a dramatic point about the deaf, especially in one duet which contrasts with the rest: One motion suddenly follows or rebounds from another, with the contact-making the dance emotional. The loneliness which is depicted, of course, may be more acute for people who cannot hear, but it is a story for everyone. -George Jackson Page 10-Thursday, August 11, 1977 ECTRUM has • xciting premiere By MARVADENE BROCK Special to The Citizen The premier performance of SPECTRUM Deaf Dance Company Saturday night at Hogg Auditorium \as an exciting event for both the deaf and dance ·ommunities. Composed entirely of deaf dancers, the SPECTRUM company is the first such dance troupe ever formed in the Ullited States. Saturday night's performance ·proved the viability of such an exp riment. Although deaf, the company's communication as dancers is potentially as strong as any hearing company. Yacov Sharir, the company's artistic director, choreographed a full evening's ballet, "Interactions 12 3 4,: · for the premier. Based upon his observations of deaf expression, the dance explored a variety of human interactions and emotions. Situations ranged from tender interludes to hostile confrontations. Cnderlying all the interactions was a tremendous sensuality and intense expression. The com position of the ·ballet was very sculptural. Dancers used their bodies to form geometric shapes on several planes that bisected, intermingled, and stood alone in space. It was as if they had taken an emotion and transformed it into an abstract shape. Indeed, the dance looked like a moving sculpture to be viewed from different perspectives. So there was a very strong visual impact. But the eloquent use of hands and arms and the dancers' facial expresSlons added an emotional impact just as strong as the visual. The contrasts between mood and movement, music and silence, individual dancers' timing and that of the group-all contributed depth, texture and dynamics to the ballet. Unifying all movements was the theme, with its endless variations. The choice of music also added excitement. In contrast with the very human subject was the primeval and fut~ristic sounds of modern percussive com positions by Marius Constant and Carlos Chavez. The juxtaposition of the music with the dancers' movements was often startling. Another unique quality of SPECTRUM's performance was the strong sense of ensemble exhibited by the company while also maintaining individual identities. Each dancer displayed some special quality mo\ ement and expression, so that it was hard to ~ ngl out just one or two for exceptional per formances. This is a rare quality in dance companies, and it will be interesting to see if SPECTRUM retains it. ln the first segment of the ballet, Rita Corey walked \ · h slow measured steps across the bare stage, ,.using every few feet. There was no music, only Corey's halting movements. Wearing a long, flowing gown, she looked as if she were sleepwalking in a dream. After a few minutes she stopped and lay on the floor, where she remained throughout the dance. Loud, metallic music began. One by one, the other dancers entered from both sides of the stage. With their arms stretched up in front of them, wrists bent down, they progressed across stage in random directions. As they walked, they bent one knee and , retched diagonally, then dropped to the floor. ThP.ir movements were large and long. Gradually, all dancers assumed a position on stage and became still. Then they all pointed a finger in the air, seemed to grab a handful of vibrations, held them in clenched fists, and released them in a rippling movement of their hands. From this moment, unison movements broke into segmented patterns. Dancers dispersed into groups of two and three or danced alone. In one sequence, there was a series of confrontations and rejections, then angry reactions. These actions between individuals evolved into group actions of acceptance and involvement. Dancers intertwined, pulled, pushed, caressed, broke away from each other. There was a continual interaction of bodies and movements. In the second segments, Mario Illi and Linda Herenchak danced a powerfully passionate pas de deux. Beginning with a rather erotic sequence on the floor, the dancers suddenly pushed away from each other. Movements became aggressive and jerky as the dancers interlocked and broke away. They struck at each other, wrestled, ran away, then rejoined. The dance ended with Illi carrying Herenchak stiffly across the stage, much as he did Corey in the first segment, then walking back across stage alone. For the third segment, Yacov Sharir improvised a dance to music by Miles Davis, using the expressions and gestures the deaf dancers had been using. His style was largely balletic, but modern as opposed to classic. His movements tended to be sharper and quicker than the deaf dancers', and his expressions resembled those of a mime. Throughout his dance, there was an interplay of lyrical, flowing gestures with rough, fractured motions. Subtle articulations of his hands and body were transformed into large actions. Balletic movements such as turns and beats were broken by falling to the floor or crumpling the body. In the fourth segment of the ballet, the company performed more complex unison movements. The one exception was Corey, who remained outside the group. She walked among the dancers but never joined them. Their actions served as a foil for hers. Most of her actions revolved around a chair she brought onstage. She walked around it, sat in it, stood with one foot on it. While the others interacted with each other, she interacted with the inanimate object, collfining her movements mostly to her torso and arms. In one scene, the other dancers performed sequentially in slow motion and subdued light while Corey performed frantic, staccato movements around the chair with a spotlight on her. The contrast provoked images of dark, cool water flowing beside dry sand being blown away in noonday sun. Again, there was no music, only movement. The ballet ended in darkness without any sense of resolution. As in an epic, there was a feeling that the action would continue even though the audience wouldn't see it. The next ballet that SPECTRUM Deaf Dance Company performs could well begin where their first one ended. 0 -.: a 0 • 0 i:: CID 0 >. .a New dance group debuts Deaf dancers provide strong beginning By DAVID CONNELLY ment and the woman in front Surprisingly, I found ly repetitive movements while Corey moves staccato The premier performance of me gasped a little bit. Sharir's solo performance in of the Spectrum Deaf. Dance Then they directly look at the third section, ''Around like, not using the feet very Company ·saturday night in each other and can't bear One Point,'' the most unmuch, but the head and torso. Hogg Auditorium reminded what they see. Inches-Norris interesting. He seemed to be It was like a corps de ballet, me of one of my favorite turns violently away and moving around a central with the featured dancer offdance moments. Toward the becomes unapproachable, point, testing out the center. choreography, pausing beI am unsure how the entire end of Martha Graham's "Apcold. dance converged, if it, in acpalachian Spring," the young · In the second section, Illi fore a sequence as if to say, "I and Linda Herenchak lie side wonder how this will look." tuality, ever did. Corey, for bride pushes out on the space, Sharir combined much example, who is a beautifulher hands directly in front of by side in front of a red scrim. Very slowly, they begin to classical movement, indancer, was-in white in the her. cluding entrechats during a first section, lay still on theSpectrum, under the artistic entwine. Sharir knows how to slow down our way of looking mimed highwire act, with stage for most of the dance direction of Y acov Sharir, . at the dance, to let things unmore modern stretches. The and ended up dangling as aalso is pushing out on the space, challenging fold on their own terms. bluesy score was by Miles corpse while Illi supported limitations. Spectrum is the But, typically, Sharir does Davis. her. In the final section, she ended up limp, sliding from world's first professional deaf not allow his couple to stay The fourth section was the dance company and is together for very long. The most fascinating in movement the chair, seemingly moving centered in Austin. foreplay is long, luxurious; terms, but the meaning of the toward catatonia. We were told before the perthe actual coupling is brief, piece was unclear. In fact, I I would like to see Sharir formance that "Interacfrustrating. Herenchak and remain confused by many of firm up his choreographic tions," the evening's four-part Illi move on to a pushing Sharir's images. But the ideas and also allow his work, was about "confronmatch and even to an movement -the design -dancers to explore the ''anything you can do, I can do was challenging and at times possibilities of compassion tation." I think it was also about violent rejection, isolabetter'' dance routine, using a warmly beautiful, superbly and yes, even love that can heightened by Larry weather stormy confrontation and barren sexuality. tap outline. They come together only to reject each Jameson's lighting design. tion. For example, in the first Rita Corey in white is When Rita Corey sat on thatsection Mario Illi moves from other once again. an arabesque to a prone posiMarius Constant's score for fascinated with a chair. She ordinary chair, feet fully turntion over Sandi Inches-Norris, the first two sections was pergoes off stage to get it, brings ed out to the far sides, and then shifts to her side. In a cussive, modernistic, not in it back toward the center, opened her arms, she did very sensual movement, he the Cage, but in the Boulez studies it a lot and finally something quite extraor begins to move his hand over sense. The dancers evidently moves it to stage right. The dinary. She embraced us all her body without touching it, feel the vibrations in the air rest of the company in a for a moment. And it made all straight line moves in slow the rejection and struggling afirst using the palm, then the and the music and dance exist back. It was a peac_eful rr~o-as two parallel events. motion, engaging in alternate- bit easier to bear. Deaf dancers show dynamic ~vOlution' By KIM McCORMICK company's two works, which Citizen Staff included a repeat of "Shapes If further proof was needed that