From Thea Singer in the Boston Globe:
Quote:
Dances show versatility, historic perspective
The Boston Conservatory Dance Theater is obsessed with context. In its shows, it doesn't just present dances; it raises questions about where those dances belong in history and how each has led to or grown from others.
Friday night was no exception. The three works on the program could not have been more different. Laszlo Berdo's ''Opus 1,'' presented in a premiere, is a straight-ahead classical ballet, toe shoes and all; it springs directly from the music. Jose Limon's ''Missa Brevis'' (1958) is an example of modern dance with a capital M: Eschewing balletic prettiness, it's a communal cry in the early modern style, complete with architecturally poised masses and aching thrusts. Meaning drives its form. Diane Arvanites-Noya and Tommy Neblett's ''Knowing We Can Never Know,'' another premiere, takes Limon's narrative approach into the 21st century. It's a roiling, boiling pot of emotion shaped not so much by patterns as by movement motifs. The dancers sprint from style to style with impressive ease, embodying some of them rapaciously, others more tentatively.
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