Maria Rendina Frantz’s very aptly named Motion Theatre Dance Company presents compelling works combining a lively variety of choreography with thought provoking theatrical themes and ideas to create some mighty fine shows. Their most recent show, “Journey,” at Center Stage Theater was delightfully varied with choreography by Artistic Director Frantz and dancers Sammy Gerraty, Kelly O’Conner and Gianna Burright. The show began with Maria’s “Chidambaram” set to a lush orchestral composition by Ravi Shankar, a flowing and sinuous dance work evoking pastoral scenes of rivers and maidens celebrating the beauty and joy of dancing, with a good dose of spiritual mystery, and forth company member Tara McAnich’s solos were delightful. Next, Gerraty’s improvisational solo piece about personal isolation and discovery was set to atmospheric music by Vangelis. Kelly O’Conner and Ms. Gerraty performed O’Conner’s “o p e n s p a c e s,” a dynamic existential exploration of relationships and one’s place in the universe before projected imagery of the cosmos, then changed gears, music and projection for a slow and jazzy finale. Frantz’s “Trois Saintes De La Mer,” a premiere, returned to a watery sub-theme as three company dancers danced in beautiful flowing costumes before footage of waves breaking at dusk on a local beach to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” with added audio of the waves. Two students performed a pas de deux at about the halfway point in this gently evocative and then bracingly fast paced work. Alienation was given a humorous ironic twist in Burright’s solo “Turn It On, Turn It Off” which was filled with intriguing, original and at times almost hilarious choreography, superbly illustrating the spoken narrative that was integrated with an original score by Matt Kirk. Ending the performance was another premiere by Maria Frantz, the namesake of the show – “Journey.” Set to music by Nino Rota, this piece was the most “theatrical” of the evening and fittingly had elements of comedy and hustle bustle, plus some pathos, all of which could have come from an Italian film set in early twentieth century America. So, an evening of journeys, spiritual, personal and interpersonal, all presented with consummate skill and artistic adventure!
