Hannah Kahn Presents Something Old, Something New

This weekend (August 29 and 30, 2009) Hannah Kahn Dance Company is presenting "YONDER & other dances" in Denver's Shwayder Theater, with a large cast of fourteen dancers and lighting designs by Craig Bushman. The concert provides glimpses of Kahn's work from 1980 to present, with one a premiere, "Complete the Circuit." Three of the works, "Yonder" (2009), "In Between" (2009), and "Voyage" (1980) were recently presented (March 2009) at the nearby Lakewood Cultural Center, and to a large extent read much better in the smaller and more intimate Shwayder Theater. That is especially so with "In Between," which requires somewhat of a learning curve of multiple viewings to appreciate, and to get by Gyorgy Ligeti's dense score. In fact, most of Kahn's works benefit from multiple viewings given the complexities of some of the phrasing she uses, and the light speed at which a lot of it happens. Often it is her adagio sections that shine, in that there is time to see and savor the movement.

Many of this concert's works are tightly set to the music chosen, often agreeing with that music in almost every aspect, especially tempo, articulation, and dynamic. This is most true of Kahn's earlier works like "Joint Venture" (1980), "Junctions" (1981), and especially "Voyage" (1980). However, in all of those works the careful viewer can find delightful movement choices involving isolations in the limbs, torsos, and heads of the dancers, and in solos and duets that reappear throughout the company with subtle changes that keep them interesting. Newer works at times move away from the music, albeit not in their entirety, sometimes even just letting that music co-exist with the dance. "In Between" even departs from Kahn's often "pretty" dances, and becomes accordingly very interesting. In this concert the Shwayder audience did not detach as former audiences had done. (Was it the venue, or the audience?) The adagio section of that piece is especially interesting in this smaller theater, given the time allowed to savor the sometimes eclectic phrasing, and the lack of remote-ness the larger Lakewood venue created.

There are many wonderful parts of this concert. One part results from the fact that Hannah Kahn has built an ensemble of amazing dancers. That ensemble is firmly anchored by "local" dancers like Kristi Peterson, Jennifer Golonka, Jacob Mora, Mason Lawrence Taylor, Michael Richman, Jessica Garcia, Marisa Hollingsworth, and Ben Shultz (who is about to depart for the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City). Added to that is a group of dancers emanating from the University of Wyoming dance program in Laramie. Of special note in this concert are stunning performances by Theresa Anton and Jennifer Hightower. Both dancers have sensational presence. Compact, swift, and adept Anton takes over the stage whether in solo, ensemble, or being lifted in any number of breathtaking ways. And she finishes every single movement no matter how fast. "Voyage" was made before Anton was born, but in this concert it appeared Kahn had made the work for her. Contrastingly Hightower is elegantly tall and uses her long arms and legs in amazing articulations well suited to Kahn's choreography and the isolations therein. Michael Richman's minimalist video about light images was a wonderful addition to the premiere of "Complete the Circuit."

Donald K. Atwood MFA, Ph.D.

© Copyright World Dance Reviews 2009