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Vincent Mantsoe assembled four dancers from working sessions in Paris, all with divergent ethnic and dance backgrounds, bodies and movements styles: with them he fused a performance memorable for its unity, feeling with moments of utter stillness that were at once eerie and magical. It was as if you couldn't trust yourself or your eyes with what you were seeing, let alone experiencing. Many in the audience were captivated, cheering and standing at the end.

The live music with indigenous African instruments helped, some from other areas of the continent, played and sung by five musicians. Arthur Caplan's score underlay the atmosphere handsomely, conveying an aural and physical spaciousness, the permission for solitude along with community, a gentle, human acuity long neglected, forgotten almost in Western life. From the Q & A, it became apparent Caplan is not only a composer but familiar with a wife variety of African instruments; he spoke siccinctly regarding choices suitable for the collaboration.

Men-Jaro, or friendship, danced without intermission, was presented with a deceptively simple format. The dancers arrived singly, casually, engaging in freely swinging, repetitive arm movements,a foot pattern which seemed a single forward step, with two smaller ones shifting weight before the pattern was repeated. First Dancing in unison, they broke into solos. There were a couple of sections which might be described as pas de deux; they lacked sustained, close encounter or the support and guiding what generally is considered partnering. An additional solo occured before the dancers drifted casually into the wings, leaving the stage to Mantsoe at curtain fall.

"Good old ethnic collective movement," goes the appraising mind. "It will get repeated, then something else happens." Repeated, yes, the torso rhythms followed the arm and leg pattern, like a gentle breeze rippling the surface of transparent water, a semi-spiral from the supporting leg. Mesmerized, I wondered "How can they move with such apparent freedom, fluidity and with such earthiness?" Bay Area audiences see lots of African-based dance, local, visiting: this was different.

 

How much of this difference was due to the divergent training of the dancers is hard to gauge. Few Bay Area African dance practitiors possess any variety or depth of training in other movement styles; Mantsoe's quartet is thoroughly trained and move seamlessly. It also must be attributed to Mantsoe himself, with his staggering string of resident, choreographic and prize citations. His highly receptive, embracing view towards other movement forms and dance traditions gives his dancers underlying stability. The dancers learn a new method of moving, yes, but Mantsoe respects their origins, their training.

As genial and unassuming as he appeared in the Q & A, Manstoe is a compelling stage figure, evoking memories of Jose Limon. Mantsoe is generous in his support of his four dancers; within the deceptively loose movement rising from his South African heritage, he makes a powerful, precise impact. That heritage with its strong shamanistic component ia doubtless contributary to Mantsoe's unique regard for movement differences, his willingness to utilize dancers who reflect divergence. In his own solo, there was every evidence Mantsoe experienced trance, based on the quiet transaction between Mantsoe and Lesole Z. Maine, the other male dancer in the ensemble at the conclusion of Mantsoe's solo. Afterwards Rita Felciano remarked she felt a bit like a voyeur to have witnessed it.

While the other dancers, Cecile Maubert Mantsoe and Aude Arago were striking, I was captivated by tiny Meri Otishi. Her attack as she danced seemed nearly ecstatic. I can see her with a translucent smile as she adapted Mantsoe's movement to her small frame.

The Men-Jaro tour was an offering of the African Consortium; the nine US presenting organization members guarantee an African-based or inspired dance troupe exposure in key U.S. performance venues. Fiscal support was provided by a number of U.S. foundations known for their consistent dance underwriting along with institutions in France and the Netherlands.