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The Woman: Alexsandra Meijer
The Husband: Stephane Dalle
The Lover: Alex Lapshin
The Father: James Strong
The Mother: Dalia Rawson
Two Sisters: Karen Gabay, Marie Jacobs
The Mistress: Sayaka Kai
The Servants: Willie Anderson, Tiffany Glen
Two Male Friends: La Mai Linh, Shingo Yoshimoto
Four Girl Friends: Catherine Grow, Beth Ann Namey, Mirai Noda, Patricia Perez
Lucifer: Hao Bo
Centaur: Ramon Moreno
The Child: Kathleen Dahlhoff

Out of Africa is one of those anomalies which occasionally shows up in a company's repertoire, to be remembered as just that. Out of Africa was choreographed by Flemming Flindt, the man who gave the ballet world the creepy cogency of The Lesson, the eerie qualities of Phaedre and one ballet I have never seen, The Overcoat. He also created The Red Shoes, based on the life of a Danish ballerina which was seen two seasons ago in San Jose.

Ballet San Jose is a company which has mounted Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring, Donald McKayle's Rainbow Round My Shoulder and District Storyville as well as Dennis Nahat's spectacular Blue Suede Shoes, and reassuring revivals of favorites like Graduation Ball, Gaite Parisienne and Coppelia. In this instance, Dennis Nahat's remarkable theatrical acuity deserted him.

Out of Africa is something else, panoramic story and movement cliches. You could see the influence of the Bournonville School in some of assignments given the sisters and friends, which is perfectly consistent. But the molding of the child into social conformity had none of the chilling development Flindt brought to the young dancer in The Lesson.

As the Woman, Alexsandra Meijer, possessed of a harp like quality in arabesque from fingers through a beautiful arched instep, danced with skill and understanding. Her initial contact with her future husband was altogether lightly drawn, and I'm afraid the description of Le Mai Linh and Shingo Yoshimoto as two "rough men" not only is absurd, but nothing in their costumes lent believability to that synopsos line.the The pas de deux between The Woman and The Lover might prove interesting if plucked out and performed by itself, but the exchange between the Husband and the Mistress told us little about the nuances of their relationship. Distinctive moments occurred with the transporting of baggage and The Woman's aborted attempts to glove the African servants, only to abandon the effort as absurd. The connection between the vastness and isolation in Africa and the subsequent twists in relationships was entirely absent.

Hao Bo made an impressive Lucifer and Ramon Moreno did his best as The Centaur. But this mythic interpolation and the apotheosis with The Lover swinging white banners and Lucifer red ones may go over in an Olympic sized stadium, but manifesting the woman's interior struggles? It all was backed by the San Jose Community Chorus, dressed in monk's robes, hoods you bet, and frequently carrying glass globes with lights inside, entering through the auditorium, marching in and out, singing varied "Ahs" and one or two Latin phrases. If Dennis Nahat wants to engage the San Jose choral community as part of his remarkable community outreach, Carmina Burana is the ticket.

The dancers could not be faulted for they rendered their attitudes, tours and pirouettes with steady, professional manner. Their variations and ensembles simply looked like choreography by the yard. Flindt's African tribal celebration never gets beyond an embarrassing evocation of African tradition. Where Val Caniparoli consulted African specialists for his fusion in Lambarena, Flindt apparently looked only at photographs of Watusi headdresses and a shaman's totemic costume. Hopping side to side in a broad a la second demi plie with beige unitards for color does not an African celebration make, by any stretch of the imagination. Fie on you, Mr. Flindt.