Kaleidoscope Dumps L.A.’s Diversity for Hollywood

For, those who think the ever-expanding annual series Dance Kaleidoscope has a lock on L.A. diversity: Think again. In its second edition, Saturday at the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre, the Los Angeles Dance Invitational offered a whole new slice of the Big Orange--one that included more commercial Hollywood choreography than Kaleidoscope typically provides. But it also minimized local modern dance and unaccountably excluded all the community-based world dance ensembles that define Southland multiculturalism.

Bemoaning the “very few opportunities for an eclectic [Southern California] showcase,” Invitational founding chair Howard Ibach introduced the 13-part program, held to benefit the youth services division of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center.

Unfortunately, too many of the pieces hadn’t been developed beyond sketchy, workshop-level etudes. Too many others had nothing in mind other than using pop records, the technical prowess of devoted dancers and off-the-rack movement vocabularies to look sexy, tough-and-sexy or threatening, tough and sexy.

However, even candy-dancing looked great when performed with the spectacular suppleness and versatility that Sal Valsallo brought to Alex Magno’s untitled solo to music by Prince. And Kaleido-veteran Mark Mendonca lavished not only his vaunted technical brilliance but an untamed originality on an untitled tap trio with a dark interpretive edge.

*

If genuine movement invention proved rare on Saturday, pop dancing with no taint of narcissism proved even rarer. Bubba Carr’s sextet “Bulb” had both, though Carr obviously didn’t trust mere dancing and so piled on incoherent inanities involving balloons, scarves, painted faces and an automaton. Also fitfully intriguing: Martha Kelly-Fierro’s women’s quartet “Hyperballad,” full of artful sequencing ploys.

Works by Keith Glassman (“Bout”) and Rei Aoo (“High-Tech Rhapsody”) had promising ideas but no distinctive expression. Strong ensemble prowess sustained confrontational pop indulgences by Adam Parson (“The Box”) and Douglas Caldwell (“Natural Man”). Flashy gymnastic skills dominated two nightclub adagios by Cate Caplin and Murray Phillips (“Time to Say Goodbye” and an untitled tango), but emotional values remained curiously absent.

Teen guests on the program included Janet Roston’s vibrant salsa ensemble from Beverly Hills High and two deserving recipients of the recent Music Center Spotlight Awards: Jennifer Whalen (ballet) and Jeffrey Williams (tap). Raymond del Barrio served as artistic director for the event.