Review

Southern Danceworks sets limbs into vibrant motion in weekend show

Five stars out of five

Southern Danceworks, the Birmingham-based modern dance troupe whose performance history can best be described as on-again, off-again, was on again Saturday night. Way on.

Although three dancers of the current company of seven are drawn from Alabama Ballet regulars, it has established its identity through its director, Teri Weksler, a gifted choreographer and dancer whose resume glows with credits from Mark Morris Dance Group, Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project and Jacob's Pillow. Shows this weekend spotlight two Weksler originals and a world premiere from New York choreographer Germaul Barnes.

The premiere of Weksler's "Quips and Cranks," a loosely connected series for various combinations of four dancers, used live amplified violin and percussion. Weksler's generous use of gravity drove the dance, its forward lurches and backward falls contrasting with sculpturesque tableaux. At one point, violinist Karen Bentley Pollick was required to fall sideways into the arms of guest dancer Roger Van Fleteren while executing a downward glissando. John Scalici brought a variety of percussion instruments, beginning with an African mbira (thumb piano) and graduating to various cymbals, rattles and shakers.

Kraig Patterson's relentlessly physical "Make Like a Tree" followed. Dressed in loose-hanging red and white outfits, the six dancers crawled, jiggled and flailed, spider-like, to a recording of a tense string quartet by Alberto Ginastera. Weksler's "Quixotic" is the essence of elegance and lightness. Music by Percy Grainger provided the backdrop for a succession of duets by three couples. Suggestions of Appalachian folk dance and square dancing contributed to its style, balance and grace.

Barnes' "Distinct Destiny With an Open Fist," set to driving, minimalist tracks from the Belgian group, Aranis, literally stretched the six dancers to their limits. Arching, twirling limbs, intertwining and stretching to infinity, were set into vibrant motion in this highly rhythmic dance.

This was one of the finest indigenous modern dance programs in Birmingham in a long while. Weksler's efforts deserve more frequent showings.