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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > June > 16 > Entry
Review: Big Range Austin Dance Festival
By all accounts, the Big Range Austin Dance Festival, which wrapped up this weekend, has been a big success. The crowds turned up: individual shows sold out. And plenty of new dance found a stage and an audience.
Friday night, the Off Center hosted the second of the festival’s two showcase programs featuring works by half a dozen independent choreographers or choreographic collaborators.
Two of the dancemakers — David Justin and Sharon Marroquin — delivered new work really shined, with each presenting short dances of characterized by great nuance, technical finesse and creative freshness.
Twice the recipient of the Austin Critics’ Table Outstanding Choreographer of the Year award, Marroquin debuted “Crandall Canyon Mine.” Using the horrific 2007 mining accident that trapped six miners hundreds of feet below ground as a narrative starting point, Marroquin crafted a dark, heartbreaking tableaux that expressed the agonizing pain of a miner’s wife contemplating her husband’s tragedy. To the hypnotic, ethereal music of Arvo Part, Marroquin dance mostly alone in semi-darkness only briefly partnered by Steve Ochoa. Marroquin has an unusual grace and depth of expression as a dancer, the emotion seemingly flowing from her fingertips, her face registering abundant nuanced feelings.
Just back from a sojourn to Europe where he presented at the “40th International Choreographers’ Showcase,” Justin — whose American Repertory Ensemble presents its new program July 25-27 — gave his new piece “Fray” its Austin debut.
With cellist Leanne Zacharias barefoot, black-clad and on a short wooden platform, dancer Rosalyn Nasky executed quick precise ballet moves alternating with striking poses. A second short platform with a video monitor slowly rolled around the stage, the monitor flickering images that. “Fray” was pure, intelligent abstraction of music, dance form and video technique all cogently and beautifully put together.
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