RDT to perform 'work of hope'

When choreographer Zvi Gotheiner was asked to restage his 2005 work "Bricks" on the Repertory Dance Theatre this year, he was prepared to make some changes.

"This is basically a new company," Gotheiner said after rehearsals in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. "Out of the eight dancers, six are new. And those six have never danced this work before. So I didn't know what to expect.

"I was ready to adjust the work to fit the dancers and various roles. But when I began working with them earlier this week, I realized that I didn't have to change a thing. The reason? Well, RDT is still RDT. They have a reputation of recruiting good dancers who are mature in their movements and ability to grasp concepts, especially with my choreography."

"Bricks" will be part of the RDT's season opener, "Echo," which will also feature Anna Sokolow's "Lyric Suite" and Susan Hadley's "Blue Grass."

"Bricks" made its world premier with RDT. And the company's artistic director Linda C. Smith said it was time to bring the piece back and designed a program where it would fit in nicely. "I first chose Anna Sokolow's 'Lyric Suite' as our centerpiece," Smith said. "Anna came to us in 1968 and taught it to us. In keeping with RDT's theme this past year — 'Heroes and Myths' — I felt 'Lyric Suite' was perfect

"Sokolow is a hero in the dance world and, Zvi told me that she was an artist with a capitol 'A.' In the work, she tips her hat to dance pioneers Nijinsky and Isadora Duncan and the tale 'Tristan and Isolde.' She also makes nods to the tale of 'Tristan and Isolde,' which ties into the myth motif.

"But, getting back to Zvi's work, the community needed to see 'Bricks' again. The work has a sense of hope, which all heroes give to the people they inspire. 'Bricks' is about breaking ground, building and rebuilding."

The dancers, said Smith, use building blocks to create walls, a home. "It's a work of hope, and that's something that needs to be conveyed today."

Gotheiner said the work, although created in 2005, still has a strong message today. "I don't wave a flag," he said, "but I think, regardless of that, I do react to things in the world. I think all artists do. And look at where we are now. We're in the middle of a war. But I'm not the kind of choreographer who will tell the audience that something is bad and something is good. Instead, I try to create works that go deeper in the structure.

"I am a little wiser than I was two years ago, and as I restaged this work these past few days, I find different connections and articulations that I didn't see before. It is a work of hope."