No-frills Tharp troupe is all about the dance

Marilyn LaRocque

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003 | 8:20 a.m.

The Twyla Tharp dance-acrobatic-aerobic-gymnastic-contortionist ballet troupe produced a tour de force Friday night at Artemus Ham Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The three works on the slightly longer-than-an-hour performance took the audience from the folk-dance-themed "Westerly Round" through a tale of unrequited love in "Even the King" to the gates of hell in "Surfer at the River Styx."

Tharp combines every conceivable form of movement with humor, fantasy and dramatic intensity. There's no scenery, no props. Costumes are subdued suggestions more than statements. She relies on the dancers to both develop the theme of the piece and set the stage.

Friday night's dancers expertly executed her challenging choreography.

The evening began with the light-hearted "Westerly Round," set to Mark O'Connor's "Call of the Mockingbird." Not surprisingly, since O'Connor is a Grammy-winning violinist as well as a composer, bouncy, upbeat, country fiddle-style music figured prominently in his score.

Danced by Emily Coates, Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, Jason McDole and Dario Vaccaro, "Westerly Round" opened with square-dance patterns and high-spirited high jinks, from hula-hoop gyrations to cowboy swaggers to classical ballet moves with feet flexed (not toes pointed), floor slides, acrobatics, twirling heads atop whirling bodies and a grand right and left change.

Coates' final leap was spectacular as she split jumped backward over a crouching man, was lifted upward by the other two and ultimately perched on the shoulder of one. The hummable war horse "Kaiserwaltzer Opus 437" by Johann Strauss provided music for "Even the King," but this was no grand ballroom scene with bouffant gowns and powdered wigs.

The King wore monotone gray; the other men, dark blue and purple, which were also the colors of the women's leotards, covered by knee-length, handkerchief hem, sheer overskirts in mottled patterns of the same hues.

The one reflection of period and mood was a black-and-white checkerboard floor created by overhead lights. The only stage prop, a mundane chrome diner chair/throne with gray back and seat cushions, stood at the rear of the stage.

The King (Matthew Dibble) and his Competitor (Vaccaro) vied for the attentions of Lynda Sing. (Sing, by the way, was the only one, all night, to dance in toe shoes instead of bare feet or soft dance shoes.)

The work combined a teasing of classical ballet, dance one-upmanship and rapid spins and jumps with sure-footed, in-position landings.

The spectacular "Surfing at the River Styx" was the dynamic highlight of the program. A compelling, percussive score by composer Donald Knaack combined with a "redemptive coda" by composer David Kahne, who was also sound design and production director.

Every instrument of the percussionist's trade -- gongs, pipes, chimes, bells, rattles, drums -- and then some, powered the dancers.

Lighting designer Scott Zielinski should have been listed as the seventh performer onstage. His lighting effects formed an integral part of the choreography.

For much of the piece, spotlights in the wings illuminated the dancers' bodies, leaving the rest of the stage dark. Zielinski used a single spot at the front of the stage to cast grotesque floor-to-ceiling shadows of dancers on the backdrop.

Santo Loquasto, who designed all the costumes, dressed the "river" dancers in black capri pants, adding strapless bras for the women. "Surfer" Charlie Neshyba-Hodges wore a beige T-shirt, with which he mopped his face, and baggy midcalf cargo pants; Matthew Dibble, his foil, gray trousers and tank top.

For the finale, they all changed to putty-colored sleeveless Ts and stretch athletic shorts. No hell-fire red anywhere.

The dance vocabulary expounded classical ballet, jazz, break dancing, post-touchdown and boxing footwork, martial arts, aerobics, yoga, limbo, acrobatics and tumbling ... an avalanche of athletic images.

The piece is a marathon of movement. The dancers must spend as much time in the gym as at the ballet barre (a practice support rail) to prepare.

Their superhuman moves, the music and lighting were emotionally charged, and the audience responded with wild applause and shouting and, of course, a standing ovation.

So, why wasn't this a five-star evening?

Except for the extraordinary "Styx"...

Costume Designer Loquasto carried muted minimalism too far. The "Westerly Round" cowboys looked like a cross between Brooks Brothers and UPS drivers. And Coates' limp, lifeless grey tunic and mini-pants? Worse! "Even the King" was dreary, not romantic. The lighting for both pieces was ordinary; and there was no change of background, or backdrop, to distinguish them.

They were out of step with Tharp's dancers.