One of the most heartening aspects of “Bodies of Work/Working Bodies,” the 19th-season opener mounted this weekend at Teikyo Loretto Heights Theater by Kim Robards Dance, is that after 25 years teaching and choreographing modern dance and contemporary ballet, Kim Robards continues to perform alongside her ensemble.
The result is a high level of athleticism and movement quality that can escape performers whose artistic direction comes solely from watching old performance videos or taking direction from mentors long retired from the stage.
This is also why the first piece of this concert worked.
The dance could have been a risky selection. The abstract, 35-minute piece, “Musings: Dusk to Dawn,” is set to the stoic Opus 68: String Quartet No. 2, by Dmitri Shostakovich. Although some of the energy onstage was diminished by the many empty seats in the theater 0n Saturday night, it was immediately apparent that even the less experienced dancers in the group stretch themselves to match the emotional and physical demands of Robards’ vision.
That vision was more exuberant during the opening of “Dusk to Dawn,” more melancholy during the center of the piece, and more pensive and interpretive toward the end. Robards’ choreography oscillated between robotic ballet and sensual jazz steps. All effectively fed off the dramatic peaks and valleys in Shostakovich’s composition.
“Building Beyond,” a shorter piece by company member David Reuille, broke up the three works in this concert. The strength of this selection, created in 2003 and set to “The String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead,” is that the male duet is performed in street clothes.
Reuille’s movement, loosely inspired by the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright, also translates the complicated but fruitful relationship between his two characters. But this piece’s energy and emotion is so far removed from Robards’ work that it seemed a questionable addition to this program.
The final version of “Kym Gym Megalomania” capped this performance. Set to engaging, exiting music written by the rock band Incubus and performed by The Ya Baby String Quartet, the dance underscores the artists’ athleticism with frenetic, passionate movement.
This is a multisensory piece with just enough pop to appeal to even the most fidgety audience members. And it was an exclamation point to a successful season opener for Kim Robards Dance.
Reach staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
