The Heat of the Rhythm, The Passion of the Movement

We strolled across the Wesleyan campus as the sun dipped below the horizon, our destination the CFA Theater. ODC/Dance, the San Francisco-based dance troupe that Brenda Way started in 1971 as a student at Oberlin College, has been in residence at Wesleyan this week working with the high school students taking part in the Center for Creative Youth.

The troupe is also treating the public to 2 performances, the second being Friday July 11 at 8 p.m. If you can get a ticket, do so quickly. The 4 pieces they presented were quite lovely to watch for many reasons. Each member of the troupe looks fairly young, all are in wonderful physical condition and they dance gracefully. The choice of the music for the dances showed intelligence and inspiration. Darius Milhaud's "Scaramouche" was the basis for choreographer KT Nelson's "Shenanigans", a tipsy and hilarious piece for dancers Anne Zivolich and Private Freeman. The two bumped into each other, bouncing off in different directions - sometimes they served as furniture as one of them would come to rest on the other's back or lap. Dressed, respectively, in evening gown and tuxedo, Zivolich and Freeman looked, at times, like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire on a bender.

Though the press release promised music by Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno and David Byrne, only Anderson was on the bill. British composer Michael Nyman and American Edgar Meyer supplied the music for the other 2 dances.

If you like contemporary dance, ODC is "serious fun". To find out about ticket availability, call the University Box Office at 685-3355 or go online to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Here's part of "Shenanigans" to whet your appetite: