Art, dance meld in 'Postcards'

"POSTCARDS FROM UTAH," REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, additional performance tonight, 8 p.m. (355-2787).

If one style of art can do wonders in the world, a collaborative effort between two different art forms can be all the more powerful.

The Repertory Dance Theatre and the Springville Museum of Art understand this and so have created "Postcards from Utah."

The choreographers selected paintings or sculptures from the Springville Art Museum to create new dances. The result is 16 dynamic works of dance, which cap off RDT's 40th-anniversary season.

Former RDT members — Lynne Listing, Andy Noble, Jim Moreno, Todd Allen, Bill Evans, Michael Kelly Bruce and Brent Schneider — were among the choreographers of the evening.

And members of the current RDT roster — Chara Huckins, Thayer Jonutz, Angela Banchero-Kelleher, Joshua Larsen, Lynne Listing, Nicholas Cendese, Chien-Ying Wang and artistic director Linda C. Smith — also got into the act to celebrate the visual aspects of movement.

Opening the evening is Allen's "Argent," based on V. Douglas Snow's "Reef." The work is fluid, introspective and full of energy.

Evans' "In the Valley of the Sun and Moon" is the most theatrical. Jonutz brings to life Wulf Eric's piece of the same name. The use of martial-arts poses and frantic spinning shows the contrasts between the moon and the sun.

Jonutz's own "Moon Pool," which features other RDT dancers, brings to life a water-driven, metal-wheel sculpture by Andrew Smith.

Wimmer's "Waiting Room" contains shades of Jerome Robbins as three dancers act out their anxieties in a doctor's office.

Anger comes through Moreno's work "Ground." Taken from a painting by Lee Deffebach, titled "Rearview Mirror," the piece is full of angst and jagged movements.

Huckins, despite being a few months pregnant, is the choreographer of "Twine," and she also dances in other works during the evening.

And Smith finds herself back onstage after 10 years out of the spotlight with her Vaudeville-like work "Old Rhino," which is based on "The Rhinoceros," by James Christensen.

Bruce's "Gate," taken from Maynard Dixon's "Road to the River, Mt. Carmel, Utah," is an exercise in strength and poise.

Closing the evening is Schneider's "Gathering." The dance was inspired by Bruce Brainard's "Afternoon Shower." The dancers, through movement, became raindrops and swirling leaves in this sweeping production.

In between is Noble's 3-D "Wait and See," from Dave E. Linn's "The First Labor."

Wang's "Memoria," culled from "New Bloom: Portrait of Olive Patterson of Alpine" by Trevor Southey, is poignant and thought-provoking.

"Postcards . . ." is RDT's way of saying "thank you" to Utah for supporting the arts.

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com