Phillip Arnoult and his Theatre Project have long been a haven for area dancers and dance fans. In keeping with that tradition, Kinetics, the Howard County-based troupe, opened its premiere-laden and well-conceived concert of dances Thursday night.
All but one of the five works -- Jan Van Dyke's "Round Dance" -- were new. Created in 1985 to music of Peter Gabriel, "Round Dance" shimmered with imagery culled from tribal rituals. Eight dancers, crouched about a circle of light, rhythmically pounded their hands on the floor or stomped their feet.
The hard-driving rhythms and shifting patterns of the dancers were underscored by the lighting's illusion of campfire in the night.
Amanda Thom-Woodson's "Shadowlands," was an intriguing dance with undercurrents of violence that well-matched the dramatic violin music of Terry Riley. The dance feels like a mystery, with odd events occurring as single dancers drop to the floor or gaze out to a horizon. As the dancers moved en masse, with arms outstretched and weight solidly shifting from one leg to another, they were like zombies mindlessly moving across the space.
"Elegy," by Stephanie Powell, to music by Handel and danced by Elizabeth Lowe Ahearn, Linda McDevitt and Anne Parshall, was an evocative dance centered on feelings of sorrow. Ms. Powell's off-kilter movements and phrasings accented her images of crucifixions and crumpled bodies.
Artistic director Ken Skrzesz prefaced his closing dance, "Variations on Joy," with ruminations on love and relationships (or their lack) as he walked a straight line or played hopscotch. When Mozart's sunny score begins, the company enters and breaks into a light-hearted dance of leaps, spins, turns.
KINETICS
What: Kinetics Dance Theatre
When: 8 p.m. today and March 2-4; 3 p.m. tomorrow and March 5
Where: Theatre Project, 43 W. Preston St.
Tickets: $14; $8, students; $10, seniors
$ Call: (410) 752-8558