Review: Philadanco’s ‘Intangible Influences’ celebrates the continuing impact of pioneering choreographers on contemporary dance

Philadanco is presenting a pair of company premieres plus two world premieres at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater through Dec. 10. While elements of the program are uneven, its many high points are stunning, thanks largely to these gifted and well-schooled dancers, who seem able to do anything —including violating the laws of gravity.

According to the troupe’s founder, Joan Myers Brown, this program’s title —Intangible Influences — refers to the continuing impact of several pioneering choreographers on contemporary dance-makers. The influence of Alvin Ailey is especially clear, but so are elements of gymnastics and circus arts.

The first half of the evening is particularly strong, though both works rely too heavily on stage smoke, which often obscures the performers and is not necessary to create a dramatic mood.

“From Dystopia to Our Declaration,” the opening item, was created by Philadanco alumnus Nijawwon K. Matthews. Throughout, both the propulsive music (composed by Dave August) and the choreography move constantly; the dancers’ bodies pulsate, flowing seamlessly from one set of challenging positions into the next.

Matthews makes the most of the performers’ exceptional strength and flexibility, inventing innovative and demanding movements: At one point a dancer jumps backward into her partner’s arms and is immediately lifted overhead, the two figures spiraling together across the stage — as a single sculptural form.

Raven Joseph and William E. Burden are especially affecting in their duet, which conveys great depths of emotion, and Mondo Morales dresses the dancers in loose, light-brown trousers and long-sleeved tops with colorful inserts.

The most striking work of the evening is Christopher Rudd’s “Mating Season,” which features three men and three women, dressed (by Anna-Alisa Belous) in identical shiny, gold, sleeveless leotards and tights adorned with subtle, swirling designs which my theater-going companion said reminded her of human musculature. The lighting (designed by Alan Edwards and executed by Nick Kolin) makes these costumes look slick, seductive, and unusually revealing. His own dance background provides Rudd with a variety of styles and techniques from which to draw, since he performed with several ballet companies and also Cirque du Soleil.

Key to the success of this work is the performers’ sensitivity to subtle nuances of weight and balance—so that, for example, Mikaela Fenton can place one foot on her partner’s shoulder, then execute a slow, controlled, apparently unsupported backbend while standing on her other foot and extending her upper body into space. “Mating Season” also credits an intimacy consultant (Sarah Lozoff), a role more common in film and television than dance.

Nothing untoward happens onstage, but Rudd glories in creating unexpected and improbable tangles of limbs, as intertwined dancers roll on the floor or make dramatic exits. The only disappointing aspect of “Mating Season” is its ending, which seems unresolved.

Gene Hill Sagan was Philadanco’s resident choreographer from 1976 until his death 15 years later. His importance for the troupe is still evident today, as demonstrated by the decision to include “Reflections and Ode to Sagan” on this program. Described as a collage of excerpts from several of his seminal pieces and arranged by artistic director Kim Bears-Bailey, the work is performed in front of a backdrop that reads as a beautiful, velvety-black sky, studded with small, silver stars.

Ten dancers are dressed in black — men with bare chests, plus narrow panels of black fabric hanging from their waists to the floor; women in sleeveless black leotards and similar skirt-like garments (executed by Natasha Guruleva, based on Sagan’s original costumes).

It is here that the influence of Ailey, for whose company Sagan also created dances, is most prominent, notably in the stuttering movements of outstretched arms and African dance-inspired torso undulations. The recorded music, by Ralph Vaughn Williams and Arvo Pärt, is overamplified, but contributes to the swelling, romantic feel of certain segments. Fenton’s solo, which includes a section of mime, is especially moving.

Last on the bill is “Retro,” an upbeat work for all 17 Philadanco members, created by Christopher L. Huggins — himself a former Ailey dancer. For this piece Guruleva designed crop tops and short full skirts for the women, and dance pants with open vests or deep-V-neck unitards for the men, all in bright pinks, purples, and reds. Here the lighting, by Kolin, is especially effective in an eccentric, powerful solo by Burden, which segues into a compelling trio — with the addition of Christian Diyah Gonzalez and Mikal Gilbert.

Music for this work includes segments by Tony Anderson, Cremation Lily, and Private Press — to which the dancers perform everything from “club” moves to ballet poses.

It is still very early in Bears-Bailey’s tenure as director of Philadanco; it will be interesting to see what directions she explores next.

Philadanco’s “Intangible Influences,” through Dec. 10 at the Kimmel Cultural Campus Perelman Theater, 300 S. Broad St., $29-$49, 215-893-1999 or kimmelculturalcampus.org.