‘You I Them’: Program in Search of Thematic Unity

With more than three dozen guests joining 15 company members, Adam Parson’s strongly performed “You I Them” program, Friday at the El Portal Theater, served less as an introduction to his new Commonality Dance Company than a pop dance extravaganza covering all possible bases.

For instance, two different hip-hop crews, a tap group and a couple of modern dancers dropped in, performing non-Parson choreographies that sometimes outclassed Parson’s own segments. For its edge, detail and parodistic wit, nothing Friday beat Selatin Kera’s contribution to the “Versions” sequence, and Gregg Russell’s comic oh-so-tired tap quintet slumped its way to glory as well.

Parson can efficiently string together familiar step-combinations, deftly sustain a style and use his sense of humor to freshen stale commercial formats. However, he often exposes the technical limitations of his dancers by throwing steps at them that they can’t smoothly execute, and he badly needs to develop his sense of structure.

His “Conference” finale, with separate groups alternating and then merging to India-style rhythm-syllables, had exactly the purposeful organization that his work otherwise lacked, though his most serious miscalculation on Friday turned out to be combining clenched pantomime with over-the-top showpiece dancing in the hollow “My Arms” dance drama. In format, the individual dances supposedly answered 17 questions about life--everything from “Have You Ever Met Someone Whose Spirit You Can Actually Feel?” (a solo for the majestic Mecca Andrews) to “Who Actually Wins in War?” (martial arts moves for seven scowling guys in sci-fi uniforms).

Much of the time, however, the questions seemed afterthoughts, attempts to lend thematic unity to a self-promotional showcase. But the unity needed to be onstage, not just in the program booklet, and the fine dancers assembled for the project might have been better served by greater creative risk.

Among the soloists, Val Halon gave maximum impact to everything Parson assigned her, and Dominic Chaiduang brought warmth and charm to the “Different Corner” solo. Masako Ehara and Mark Meismer also appeared prominently--but, alas, in pieces that tended to diminish them. Besides Parson and the choreographer guests previously mentioned, Mandy Moore, Jayson Wright, Cindera Che and Keith Clifton contributed segments to the program.