Philadancin’!

The Philadelphia Dance Company, Philadanco, has swept into town for an eight show stay at The Joyce Theater, and boy do they know how to make an entrance. Donald and I took in Wednesday night’s performance, which showcased a company full of highly athletic and artistic dancers, but which also specifically highlighted the talents of their Black male members.

The troupe performed six works in all, focusing on pieces choreographed and/or performed by members past and present. Notable among the performances was a solo piece, Sweet in the Morning, danced that evening by alumni guest dancer Antonio Sisk. With a bare stage except for a single wooden bench, and a lighting design to evoke an early morning glow, Sisk used his long, agile frame to twist, turn, dance with, on, over, around and under the bench as if to rise to meet the new day.

But the major focus of the evening came after intermission with three works collectively titled, WE TOO DANCE…African American Men in Dance. Part one, Back to Bach, featured seven of the men displaying strong and vivid ballet movements to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. A Place of Peace featured guest artist Christopher L. Huggins alone with three lit candles in a more modern dance representative of a search for calm and comfort amidst turbulence.

The best was saved for last however when nine of the men performed a piece choreographed by Huggins, called Blue (depicted above). Symbolizing both power and grace, beauty and masculinity and more than a little bit of eroticism, each dancer was given opportunity to display his strengths individually and collectively in moves drawn from modern, ballet, and African influences. Initially dressed in tight-fitting blue body suits with matching flowing skirts, as the piece wore on, they wore less and less, ending in mere boxer-briefs. The popular Black male fear-fantasy imagery was working to full effect, but in this context drove home the point clearly that, we too dance.

Philadanco will be at The Joyce Theater through May 23.