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DCDC reconnects with base
The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company opened its 41st season with a single performance Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Centerville Schools Performing Arts Center.
The program of four works included two that are part of the company’s foundation: the all-female “Vespers” and the mostly male “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder.”
Rainbow, choreographed by Donald McKayle in 1959, is DCDC’s link to black modern dance history. “Vespers,” made for the company in 1986 by Ulysses Dove, declared DCDC’s arrival as a national contemporary presence.
Almost a quarter century later, the troupe is retrenching to reduce expenses. The move to Centerville for the season opener was a mixed success. The performance started late, there were seating glitches due to failure of a ticketing machine and portions of the stage were invisible from the sides of the auditorium.
That was most obvious during the riveting final canon in “Vespers,” which delivered the program’s strongest impact.
Accompanied by rising layers of percussion, the dancers didn’t rise to scalding group intensity until near the end of Dove’s imagined ritual of abandon and restraint.
Sheri Williams (beginning her 36th year with DCDC), Nabachwa Ssensalo, Marlayna Locklear, Amy Renee Jones, Crystal Michelle and Alexis Britford each created moments of individual distinction.
Locklear’s performance as the female soloist was also one of the highlights of “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder.” During the “Sweetheart” solo, she served as each of the men’s dream woman.
William B. McClellan Jr. gave a powerful performance as one of seven men on a chain gang whose hearts and minds yearn for the freedom their bodies aren’t permitted. LaMoi Hedrington was the man who followed his heart and ended up dead because of it.
“Rainbow’s” core is constructed of strong, earthbound movements, solid landings and a diagonal counterpoint between soloist or duo and corps.
The concert opened with Sharon Leahy’s “Reach,” a disarmingly simple combination of patterns, repetition and body percussion to an original score by Rick Good.
The show closed with “Children of the Passage,” a collaboration between McKayle, the old master, and Ronald K. Brown, the heir apparent in black modern dance prominence.
On this night, the parable of human excess and joyous redemption to insistent music by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band contained both flashes of genius and unfulfilled moments.
The best dancing was done by individuals — G.D. Harris as the ringleader, Michelle, Ssensalo and McClellan were the standouts.
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