I’d like to think I
had heard of Bill Evans Dance prior to seeing them on the Fringe Festival
program, but I probably hadn’t – my familiarity with modern dance companies is
extremely limited. I went with
Colleen, my dancer-friend, who actually knows Mr. Evans from her studies at
SUNY Brockport, and who will be presenting her own show on Thursday at Bernunzio Uptown Music
(http://rochesterfringe.com/shows/show/get-a-foot-in-the-door-the-dance-of-late-capitalism).
The performance was in a rehearsal hall at the Eastman
Theatre, which made it very intimate – there weren’t more than 100 or so
people, so we were all quite close to the ‘stage.’ Music for the four pieces was a mix of live and recorded,
and Mr. Evans introduced each dance to give the audience some background on the
development of the work. For
example, the second piece was a duet he had originally choreographed for
himself and prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory, of the ABT. It began with a young woman dancing en
pointe in suspenseful silence, with the audience cooperating by remaining very
still. The male role’s
choreography was more modern, and it was an interesting juxtaposition of the
two styles of dance. And as we
were so close to the dancers, we could see their facial expressions, which
helped convey the mood of the piece, and even hear the ballerina breathing,
perhaps echoing the breaths of the flutist in the recorded accompaniment? 
The final piece started with a wonderful tap solo by Mr.
Evans himself, and then he was joined and then displaced by a very graceful,
ballet-like trio. The repertoire
displayed the versatility of the dancers, and their mastery of difference dance
techniques. It was incredible to
have the opportunity to be so ‘up close and personal’ instead of sitting many
rows back in a large auditorium. I
felt very lucky to have gotten tickets to this SRO performance, and hope the
company will return to Rochester again next year!
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