Koresh Dance Company presents the Koresh Artist Showcase

Breaking good

Breaking isn’t exactly new and hip-hop has gone in a lot of directions in recent years, so I was a bit skeptical when Retro Flow said that it was moving the traditional art form forward. B-boy, was I wrong. Their untitled piece, choreographed by Joshua Culbreath and set to “The Crow,” an electronica piece by DJ Food, opened with Culbreath in loose black pants and Jerry Valme in white, sizing each other up for a breakdance battle. They circled each other and fell forward, locking shoulders to create an arch of their bodies, then separated again.

“The Crow” has an insistent tempo, but it is slower than we usually expect from hip-hop, which meant that the team had to slow down power moves that generally rely on speed and momentum. Culbreath stunned us with the height he attained in aerial flips that seemed to float in slow motion. In a “battle” sequence, Culbreath leaped from Valme’s knee and rolled over Valme’s back. The tricks were great, but Retro Flow’s lyrical musicality took our breath away.

Joyous feet

Another group I’d like to see much more of, Dancing Heals Project, presented “The Jubilation of Jouvert,” an excerpt from the company’s Jouvert—The Spirit of a People From Enslavement to Emancipation, choreographed by Nai-Whedai Sheriff to the house/soca music “Run Free,” a remix featuring K.T. Brooks; and “Jouvert Morning,” by the Atlantik Band. The troupe, in white skirts and pants and embellished tops in bright primary colors, used the Caribbean street celebration J’ouvert to teach the audience about Afro-Caribbean culture in a powerful, exuberant dance that lifted spirits the moment the dancers appeared on stage.

A hip-shaking faceoff between Sheriff and Yattah Jones was a highlight. Dancing Heals embraces the talents of dancers with a variety of body types, which is starting to look like a welcome trend in Philadelphia dance.

Pride in the next generation

With Koresh’s own Youth Ensemble, the company’s future is assured. The first piece of the evening, “Starry Nights,” choreographed by assistant artistic director Melissa Rector to music by Diane R. Miller and Kevin MacLeod, featured five women in colorful flowing dresses. The dancers were well served by choreography that hinted at a story of dreamy nights and yearning. The second piece, Rector’s “Fragments,” presented in three parts, featured dancers Miyeko Harris, Olivia Cieri, and Sophia Groncewski, wearing long dresses that evoked the 19th century.

The first, a trio to Karin Bork’s “Kebnekajse,” hinted at stories, with notes of Cinderella and Chekov’s Three Sisters. The duet, to the music of Half Moon Run, featured Cieri and Groncewski in their long dresses (one blue and one red), again continuing to tease us with a story, as did Harris’s solo. While Rector’s choreography gave us something to think about, her dancers served her well, performing with passion and conviction. Harris, in particular, is a dancer to watch. She was luminous.

Tap dancer Caitlyn Crompton performed a competition piece choreographed by Nicole Messina Billow to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” proving once again that tap has a strong future in Philadelphia.