I finally got to see
the work of this international dance company at The Wallis in Beverly Hills. In a three day celebration of the legacy of
Martin Luther King Jr., they gave dramatic expression to incidents in
black history.
Choreographer Lula
Washington does not flinch from confrontation.
In The Movement a white man throws objects at a group of
walking protesters, then Michael Tomlin III, as Dr. King, expresses his anguish
in an emotional solo while photos of lynchings and other horrors unreel on the
backdrop.
The Little Rock Nine is a tribute to the nine African-American students
who bravely integrated Arkansas’ Central High School in the fifties. Krystal
Hicks is poignant as Minnie Jean Brown, the girl being jeered and spat upon in
the famous photo. In We Wore the Mask
Tamica Washington-Miller recites Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s poem, as a lone, masked
figure yearns to join a joyful group of dancers.
Not all the pieces
were as grim. Global Village was an upbeat, Afro-Jazz number with colorful,
flowing, non-stop action. Then Saidiya Imari, as Rosa Parks, danced a subtly ironic solo on taking her seat on the bus.
Internationally recognized for its unique blend
of African, Afro-Caribbean, Modern, Street Dance and Jazz techniques, this is
more than just a modern dance company, even though all the
different styles could come under that one heading.
The other superb high-energy
dancers were: Joshua Joseph Alexander, Queala Clancy, Tehran Dixon, Jasmine
Francisco, Christopher Frazier, Jack Virga-Hall and Adama Ideozu. All
three programs were performed with Marcus L. Miller and his Freedom Jazz
Movement.
Photos by Krystal Tomlin
Bernard.
Also in my theater column
in February’s NOT BORN YESTERDAY.
