Anchorage Daily News

There were no celebratory champagne or confetti streamers Sunday afternoon, but Alaska Dance Theatre christened its new Black Box Theater in just the right way -- with solid dancing by Alaska performers stretching their artistic wings.

Six dance companies from Anchorage and Fairbanks brought movement from hip-hop to modern dance to classical ballet to ADT's beautiful performance space for a short concert aptly named "Breaking the Box." Sunday's event was the first in a number of almost-monthly dance presentations on schedule in ADT's "Out of the Box" series.

Fairbanks's North Star Ballet company stole the show with an excellent performance of excerpts from Marius Petipa's classical ballet "Coppelia." Alex Kamerling was a perky, fresh-faced Swanilda who teased and played with her friends in a series of variations. The young dancers had beautiful lines and solid footwork. Kamerling, though, was a standout with her effortless leg extensions. Her sure-footedness easily handled turns en pointe and rapid steps that coursed over the stage floor.

ADT presented three brief works capturing the performers' grace and agility. Amy Young contrasted movement themes in her "Estanatlehi, the Self-Renewing One." Three dancers dressed in blue moved softly in curves and spirals that echoed Philip Glass' minimalist Violin Concerto, Movement II. In sharp contrast, three dancers in olive spasmed and jerked in angry bursts of movement. Yet they, too, seemed to physicalize the music, which deepened in intensity as a solo violin reached for high notes above the building sonic undercurrent.

Courtland Weaver's "Lickity Split" was a gentle dance that appeared to have nothing to do with its fast-paced name. Five dancers moved with deliberation, their fluid grace anchored in strong footwork and well-defined shapes that rose from brief pauses in the kinetic flow.

Gabe Harvey's Underground Dance Company pulsed and spun through a high-energy "Hip-Hop Re-Mix." And Mikal Preston's Studio 49 showed the audience that "It's the Hard Knock Life," dancing and flipping through gymnastics that were as eye-popping to watch as they were physically demanding to do. Both young companies are relative unknowns in Anchorage's dance community, but their style and flair make them "look-sees" for the future and great additions to this "Breaking the Box" concert.

Michelangelo Canale's Anchorage Ballet is better known for its staple of classical works. Aurelio Colon's "Bolero Liso" was a stylish nod to classical Spanish dance in which two dancers accented simple movements with castanets and flirty red skirts. Alumni of the University of Alaska Anchorage Dance Ensemble, under Brian Jeffery's direction, finished the concert with LaShonda L. Williams' "Cut-n-Paste," a piece full of the ensemble's signature style: edgy, rapid movements that stopped and started with abrupt directional changes, facial expressions that seemed demented yet oddly in character, and choreography that made the viewer sit up and think.

There was nothing earth-shattering on view Sunday afternoon, yet ADT's "Out of the Box" series marks a sea change for dance in our community. To have a performance space that invites artistic collaboration opens dance possibilities of all shapes, ideas and expressions. It will be great to see what happens next.

Anne Herman holds a master's degree in dance and has been a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts.