WHITE OAK DANCE PROJECT
We saw a motley crew of brilliant dancers drawn from the ranks of some of the country’s top ballet and modern-dance companies perform four works by a smart, talented man. So, yes, it was a good concert. But the steep ticket prices and the fact that the benefit could not keep MoMing alive had to color the whole experience. It seemed there must be some message here for the future of dance–will it survive, and how? Will some mix of ballet (a traditional money maker) and modern (a traditional innovator) offer a means?
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Morris’s clown face leered throughout the opening work on this program, Going Away Party. The eight songs by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys are country-western at its best, music that lopes and swings, with a rhythmic line that despite little hiccups of invention is as steady and sure as a pendulum. Far from avoiding country-western cliches, Morris meets them head-on and gleefully, though it’s not obvious whether he intends satire or celebration. In the opening, “Playboy Theme,” the seven dancers salute us with kissed fingertips and stiff-armed waves of the hand of the sort local queens give from floats. Later we see couples who crouch and lean toward each other, as if for an arm’s-length kiss, swinging their arms in synchronized opposition.
Baryshnikov was terrific in Ten Suggestions, however, a pared and polished solo for a dancer in silky pink pajamas. Other writers have complained that because Baryshnikov isn’t as big as Morris he can’t give the dance the same ironic contrast between physical bulk and dainty choreography. Perhaps because I haven’t seen Morris do it I’m inclined to say, so what? It may be a different dance, but it’s still funny and it’s still fine. In fact, with his clean lines, Baryshnikov may make the dance’s relationship to the music more apparent than Morris ever could have.
But though the performances in Motorcade were vital, they were somewhat unsatisfying. True, it was the last dance on the last evening of a long tour: 17 cities over a period of about three weeks. Still, the dancers sometimes looked mismatched, like a huge team of horses pulling unevenly because they’re not used to pulling together.
