Our last review

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="07100500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Bastion" >La  JAZDANZ</FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Bastion" >   </FONT><B> </B><B> </B><B>|     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="La JAZDANZ "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About La JAZDANZ"><U>About La JAZDANZ</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Artistic Directors"><U>The Artistic Directors</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Past / Present Company Members"><U>Past / Present Company Members</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guest Choreographers"><U>Guest Choreographers</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Upcoming Events"><U>Upcoming Events</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Board of Directors and Links"><U>Board of Directors and Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <B>Our last review</B>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="La JAZDANZ photo page"><U>La JAZDANZ photo page</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="072d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <IMG SRC="1d9b8700.png" border=0 width="184" height="112" ALT="CorelDRAW 8.0 Graphic" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="23a87b30.jpg" border=0 width="135" height="179" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> Tiffany Henderson, </div> <div> David Moreno</div> <div> <I>Photo:</I> Marco Ramos</div> <bR> <div> <B>Site pages:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About La JAZDANZ"><U><B> About La JAZDANZ</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Artistic Directors"><U><B>The Artistic Directors</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Past / Present Company Members"><U><B>Past/Present Company Members</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guest Choreographers"><U><B>Guest Choreographers</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Upcoming Events"><U><B>Upcoming Events</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Board of Directors and Links"><U><B>Board of Directors and Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our last review"><U><B>A note & our latest review</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="La JAZDANZ photo page"><U><B>La JAZDANZ photo page</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I><B>Our last review!</B></I><B> </B></div> <div> <B>La JAZDANZ is a must-see performance</B> </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial Narrow" ><U>Ann Nicholas</U></FONT> / Special to The Times </div> <div> Posted on November 23, 2003 </div> <bR> <div> Drop whatever plans you may have for this afternoon and head to The Strand Theatre for La JAZDANZ' concert. At $15 a ticket, you'll never have a better opportunity to introduce the entire family to wonderful dance and music in a wonderful setting. Curtain is at 3 p.m. </div> <bR> <div> Louisiana's only jazz dance company, Shreveport's La JAZDANZ, consistently pleases and excites audiences. With choreography and training by artistic directors Aaron F. Girlinghouse and Frank Vega, this corps is brilliant and the apprentice corps and DAS DANZERS show great promise. </div> <bR> <div> Take a piece of music as perfect as Gershwin's <I>Summertime</I>, add sultry, sensual balletic moves and you have the perfect concert opener. All four Gershwin pieces play on Vega's elegantly lyrical choreography and burn with inner light from the first note. Elena Fillmore and Eugene Peabody were featured in the first movement, followed by <I>Nice Work If You Can Get It</I>, a happy piece of athleticism. </div> <bR> <div> <I>The Man I Love</I>, danced by long and lithe Katrina Currow, was an nice interpretive piece full of beautiful arabesques and tours. <I>S'Wonderful</I> began as a pas de trois in pools of light, developed into a full company work of smooth, flawless form - bodies dancing in beautiful unison - and completed the Glory of Gershwin gloriously. </div> <bR> <div> The second work of the concert was Car, danced by DAS DANZERS for an appreciative audience. With a most interesting beginning - think "insect-like" - this choreography by Girlinghouse began as a negative reality and morphed into a fully staged work of uneasy rhythms and difficult traffic patterns for its nine-member cast. This work may be enjoyed on several levels - as a message piece or just for the joy of the dance. Nice piece. </div> <bR> <div> Industria by Girlinghouse and Vega is just as the name suggests - a dark work, strong and sharp, nervous and eruptive, filled with interesting forms and shapes. Black costuming on a black stage and almost completely abstract dance segued into <I>'Adagio for the Strings,'</I> a more melodic movement with elongated developpe's and arabesques. Industria ended in a movement set to <I>In the Hall of the Mountain King</I> full of triple tours and an excellent use of lighting in dance. A double shot of creative juices was at work here. </div> <bR> <div> Is anyone casting for 1984 - The Musical? Start here. </div> <bR> <div> Faces of Love opened Act Two with hot choreography by guest Pattie Obey. Eugene Peabody danced first. And talk about feeling the music: This choreography was oozing out of his pores. Lots of excellent leaps and tours, then this hot solo turned into a duet, then a pas de trois - then the foursome of Peabody, Ray Dones, David Eisinger and Jonathan Arsenault finished with a bluesy finale. Hot. </div> <bR> <div> Obey also set <I>Sing, Sing, Sing</I> for the La JAZDANZ apprentice ensemble. This vaudevillian, fun piece was a change of pace with pulsating music, sequined vests and dance wit. Again, the young corps performed with aplomb and well-rehearsed technique. </div> <bR> <div> A cast of five beautifully carried "les femmes la noche," originally set for six dancers, following the loss of Abbie Cooper to an injury during Industria. Michelle Brekelbaum, Elizabeth Mendell Carmody, Katrina Currow, Elena Fillmore and Jennifer Ierardi performed<I> 'Harlem Nocturne'</I> and the jazzy - what else? -<I> 'Tequila.'</I> Beautiful ballet turns and jumps were interspersed among shimmies and jazz isolations in this piece by Girlinghouse and Vega. </div> <bR> <div> Girlinghouse's <I>Person's in Chairs</I> presented a trilogy using folding chairs as extensions of the dancers - as another appendage, if you will - and they did. A most creative, colorful and fun piece; the audience really went wild for this one. This piece will become a concert staple, I hope, as is the company's wonderful Sinatra Suite, which I always enjoy. The ensemble closed with 5&8 with choreography by the Vega/Girlinghouse powerhouse. </div> <bR> <div> This performance gives a conception and blendings of music and jazz, jazz and ballet, classical and modern, glamorous and sparse. Grab everyone you can and go to La JAZDANZ at The Strand this afternoon. </div> <div>   </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011866ccff00.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Ann Nicholas of Texarkana, Ark., is a dancer and dance instructor. Send e-mail to her at <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial Narrow" ><U>living@shreveporttimes.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial Narrow" ><previous page    next page></FONT> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="La JAZDANZ photo page"><U>Photo page</U></A> </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>