Rei Aoo’s bold moves meet the test of taiko
The biggest challenge facing choreographer Rei Aoo in “Creation,†Saturday at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, involved matching the overwhelming force of traditional Japanese drumming, performed live by the Satori Daiko ensemble of L.A.
Much of the time, Aoo met that test resourcefully, reflecting the music’s varied textures and assaultive power in ensemble sequences boasting inventive spatial configurations along with high-impact movement innovations.
You could argue that Aoo is an abstractionist and that her dances never deeply embodied their title-premises -- “Moisture,†“Thunder,†“Evolution,†etc. But the boldness, energy and risk of her best sequences kept you watching even when the components didn’t link up conceptually.
Whether rolling and slithering from the theater’s hill- side steps to the forestage, jumping into unexpected falls or convulsing rhythmically on the floor, her large women’s corps gave this nine-part suite enough distinction as movement thea- ter to offset its regrettable descents into formula ballet virtuosity and other disappointments.
The lapses included an uneventful, quasi-gladiatorial male quartet, a technically overambitious pas de deux and the downright bizarre costumes for the final third of the piece: beige unisex body stockings accented with green knee, shoulder and elbow pads -- plus glittery Cleopatra-style headdresses.
Despite such distractions, Aoo’s locally based Dance Pla- net company and guests always managed to inspire a more primal attack from the Satori Dai- ko instrumentalists than had been evident earlier in the program when more than three dozen drums created a differ- ent kind of spectacle in a set titled “Japanese American Rhythms.â€
Led by the Rev. Tom Kurai, the musicians provided a skillful, entertaining survey of Japanese folk idioms, along with a few tame forays into contemporary taiko and hands-across-the-sea collaboration.
But only with Aoo did the music (composed by Kurai) venture beyond displays of expertise into the throbbing intensity that makes the finest Asian percussion so awesome.
Guests in Kurai’s half of the evening included the Sanmi Ensemble, the Village Arts Dance group and woodwind specialist Francis Wong.
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