Dance theater can use many approaches. Attack Theater, with its unique way of embracing audiences all over Pittsburgh, put it right into the company name. And local independent choreographer Beth Corning plumbs the depths of various political and personal topics in her own brand of multidisciplinary art.
Yet Point Park University’s Kiesha Lalama is carving her own niche, most recently with the premiere of “Bound in Before” at the Pittsburgh Playhouse this past weekend.
The story of first love, it follows much the same path as “The Bench,” which she created for PPU’s Conservatory Dance Company in 2009. It morphed into several different formats before landing in the repertoire at internationally-known Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in 2018.
That production followed a couple who met on a bench, which became the scenic glue that held the story together as they built a family and moved through life.
“Bound in Before” follows Mikey McWilliams (Tyler Kerbel) and Claire Henderson (Ashley Green) in what amounts to a Pittsburgh-themed love story as the two — he a NFL football star and author and she a successful violinist — make a triumphant return to the Steel City.
It sets them on a reverse timeline as that found in “The Bench,” one that rides the ups and downs of their long-term relationship and, at the same time, defines the 80’s and 90’s of their youth. Viewers can easily understand all of the 16 scenes through MK Hughes’ projections, which seem to be filtered through a haze of memories.
Featuring an original score by long-time collaborator Jason Coll, “Beyond” neatly captures the styles of those eras and seems familiar without poaching the oldies directly. The occasional use of lyrics makes it easy for dance newcomers to tap into the story content and identify with the characters. It’s one of Ms. Lalama’s primary goals — to engage and entertain.
Likewise this trip down memory lane will appeal to just about everyone of a certain age, beginning in elementary school and heading to scenes capturing a Halloween party (one of several, including a keg gathering in the woods, portrayed in this party-loving group), a diner hang-out, a pep assembly, prom/graduation and on to college and adulthood.
Where the bench provided the core in her previous production, Ms. Lalama uses a Tree of Life (in more ways than one) to ground the story.
“Bound” starts with several scenes that focus on mime, similar, in a way, to classical ballets such as “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty.” However this “jazz ballet,” as it could be termed, hits its stride with “Flashlight Tag,” where members of the ensemble dance around the tree with small colored lights in their hands. Like fireflies they whirl in dazzling patterns, then blink to great effect.
On the whole, Ms. Lalama presents a virtual encyclopedia of choreographic styles. The party scenes give the 40-plus cast a chance to unleash their trademark Point Park energy and dive into old-time dance fads like the Pony and the Moonwalk a la Michael Jackson.
She also scores highly during the duets for Mikey and Claire, where they can let loose their dynamic technical skills, as well as provides notable featured roles for an acrobatic Kirk (Matthew Saggiomo) and athletic Christian (Myles Canonge).
However, Ms. Green has the tough task of performing her own “duets” with her violin, which could be phrased more effectively through the use of the bow. And the pep assembly/football game was limited to two cheerleaders and six football players.
Yet, even given a limited university budget, “Bound” provides a professional polish for its audiences. As such it spins through various American-as-apple-pie traditions most of us have experienced and have truly enjoyed. In a way, it could be termed a Hallmark dance card, something that’s always welcome.
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