OAKLAND COMES TO CANOGA PARK
REVIEWED BY DIANE MONROE, BEVERELY HILLS OUTLOOK
Canoga Park was an unlikely location to have the debut of a dance company from
Northern California. However, it is home to the Madrid Theater, a nicely renovated
venue and a good size for five dancers from Oakland.
The Ross Dance Company is a well-versed ensemble and does have a predilection
for modern jazz dance based in more traditional ballet training. The diversity of
height, weight and hair among the five dancers made for an interesting visual effect.
While the Ross Dance Company is a solid dancing organization, the diversity
among its five members highlights their individuality. While their variations drew
from rock and roll songs, twelve step anthems, poetry, new music, and even the
Bible, their dancing was consistent with a style and form that speaks volumes about
good dance training.
Ms. Ross will tell you that her mission is to create a more soulful element through
her work. In support of her mission statement, he choice of music, poetry and
vocalizations does bring out the elements desired.
In the third dance of the program, which was entitled Testimony, which was simply
called "Learn," Mana Hayakawa did an excellent job for herself, as she really
showed her strong technique and her ability to rather smoothly integrate her
gymnastic skills.
The next dance was a good high-energy work with a one-word title,
"Reminiscence." In it, Paris Adkins teamed up with Tecsia Ross (the company
director) to collaborate on the choreography set to Stevie Wonder songs. In this
dance and other dances that featured Annie Henry, the transition from classical to
jazz dance was successfully realized.
The other soloist, Nicole Pagan, certainly fit right into the image of a well-fed
dancer, as no one in the company was emaciated. On the whole, their intelligent
choices made the program very palatable, with the exception of torn tights in a
dance called "One Deadly Sin," which had an overall edgy, radical bent to it.