September 21, 1999

A CHOREOGRAPHY OF COMPLEXITY

Author: BARRY JOHNSON - The Oregonian

Modern dance students all over the country learn many of the same essentials -- the techniques of dance
pioneers such as Martha Graham, Jose Limon and Merce Cunningham. It's one of the things that gives the
wonderfully chaotic world of dance a slight sense of intelligibility.

We are used to thinking of particular dances in this way, as branches from particular roots. Or we focus on
the variations and inventions of the choreographer. But another factor is geographical: Dance is first and
foremost a local activity, made by choreographers and danced by dancers who live in a particular place.

In this particular place, an important development has occurred in recent years, one that Linda Austin's
dance performance at Echo Theatre over the weekend symbolizes. After several years in which the city
suffered through a "dance drain" -- the flight of dance artists to other, more congenial dance cities --
Portland is now starting to attract new choreographers or to bring its own back home. Teresa Mathern, Minh
Tran, Randee Paufvee and now Austin all fit into this category, and their presence adds a sense of artistic
depth and excitement to the scene here.

Austin's sensibility, at this point, is closer to Australian/New York choreographer Lucy Guerin's "Sleep,"
which was performed last summer in the same venue, say, than to anything made in Portland. That makes
sense -- Austin returned to Portland recently after spending 20 years dancing and choreographing in New
York.

The three pieces here (an Austin solo, a duet for Linda K. Johnson and Jenn Gierada and an ensemble piece
for six dancers) revealed Austin as a choreographer interested in discontinuities of flow, humor, the
possibility of isolation redeemed by human touch and movement drawn from various sources, though a
certain gymnastic quality gives the dances much of their propulsion.

"The Theory and Nature of Secrets," the duet, gave Johnson, Gierada and the audience a serious taste of
Austin's vigorous style. It was a workout -- lots of awkward, angular poses (which the angular Gierada
emphasized adroitly) that collapse into floor work that requires explosive upper body strength (which
Johnson tossed off easily). Keyhole forms in the video accompanying the piece and private moments in dim
pools of light suggested the theme of the title.

From a programming standpoint, the evening might have been better begun by the solo, "A Brand New
Alias," a funny piece that the serious "Secrets" didn't prepare the audience for. Danced first for On the
Boards in Seattle last April, "Alias" begins with Austin in dark glasses, rocking backward, looking for the cool
pose of the hipster. Soon she is trying on various dance idioms -- a little jazz parody here, a bit of tap there.
Before the dance is over, she has donned a mustache, danced an aggressive tango with a toy radio-controlled
car and given us a taste of Chaplin and the bullring, all separated by more hard, calisthenic dancing. Dancer
Stephanie Lanckton even got a cameo during a costume change in this "solo."

"Deep Cover," accompanied by the duo Waltzing Mice and their cunning blend of musical styles that sounded
a bit Hawaiian, a bit surf and occasionally a lot like the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack, continued the humorous
vein begun by "Alias." It's a dance sendup of film noir, with dancer/tough guys in raincoats and music-box
ballerinas tilting dangerously off-center. Densely packed with pop references, brilliant choreographic devices
and more hard dancing, "Deep Cover" delighted the audience and exhausted the dancers, who in addition to
Austin, Lanckton, Johnson and Gierada, included Tracy Broyles and Rinda Chambers.