St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 20

musicthe arts 4B July 26, 1985 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Reviews Baryshnikov Shows What A Dance Superstar Is For wnm MM mtm mmm acconA nfforaH fha 1 1 iona rx essence offered the audience a new What he communicated more than Dance Asleep Keeps Its Audience Wide Awake Country Ti! look at this warhorse. The familiar steps were all there, but they were infused with genuinely expressive nuance. Her technical performance was exquisite; the emotional, effect was uncommonly powerful. The other works on the program were the pas de trois from "Swan Lake," a duo called ''Rappacini's Daughter," a duo from "Sylvia" and George Balanchine's "Who Cares?" Cheryl Yeager exhibited gorgeous extensions and superb balance in the "Sylvia" excerpt, but her performance was off-set by the general stiffness of her partner, Ross Stret-ton.

In "Rappacini's Daughter," on the other hand, the lithe, strong and graceful contributions, of Leslie Browne and Robert La Fosse were in perfect harmony. Browne and La Fosse shared the stage with Cynthia Harvey and Deirdre Carberry in Balanchine's celebration of Gershwin's music; it was Browne's solos that proved the most impressive, but the entire piece had a consistency about it that suggests that, under Baryshnikov's leadership, American Ballet Theater is moving in all the right directions. Except for "Sinatra Suite," all the pieces were accompanied by live music; the combo consisted only of piano, violin and synthesizer, but it was enough to lend a feeling of real intimacy to the proceedings. The event was sponsored by Dance St. Louis.

anything else was the pure joy of dancing. Baryshnikov the movie actor and Baryshnikov the TV talk show guest has plenty of charisma, but it's nothing compared to the human magnetism generated by Baryshnikov the dancer. Baryshnikov even made the graveyard scene from "Giselle," which he danced with Amanda McKerrow, seem not just impressive but also interesting. He was at his best, though, in the program's closing number, the "Sinatra Suite" of Twyla Tharp that he previewed a few summers ago at the Muny Opera. This homage to one of America's favorite pop singers deftly combines the vocabulary of classical ballet steps wjth the feel of jazz dance.

In Elaine Kudo, Baryshnikov had a very attractive and pliant partner for the piece's slinkier sections and its rock 'em, sock 'em interludes. He had the last song 'Em Up, all to himself, and it was in this low-keyed, wistful finale that he most eloquently demonstrated just how communicative a medium pure body language can be. There was an abundance of communication, too, in the piece that came just before the "Sinatra Suite." Michel Fokine's "The Dying Swan" is, of course, supposed to be a poignant and affecting work, but its performance tradition has become so hackneyed that nowadays it rarely has its intended effect. Susan Jaffe in By James Wierzbicki Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Mikhail Baryshnikov's primary public virtues unbridled elan, considerable athletic prowess, pouty good looks were very much in evidence Wednesday evening in Kiel Opera House. The 37-year-old dancer and artistic director of American Ballet Theater was featured in only three of the pieces that made up the program.

Yet there was no question as to who was the star of the show. Even though all 15 of the supporting dancers are members of American Ballet Theater, the troupe that's currently touring the nation was billed as Baryshnikov Co. And on the two occasions when the Russian emigre actually made an entrance onto a bare stage, the applause with which he was greeted was almost as loud as when he'd finished his performances. The audience's reaction was not at all inappropriate. At the beginning of the first piece (Peter Fonseca's one had to look hard to pick Baryshnikov out of the on-stage crowd, for the stylized movements he executed were identical to those of everyone around him.

But as the choreography developed as the familiar dance class exercises evolved into virtuoso variations for Mikhail Baryshnikov soloists and various small ensembles it became clear that Baryshnikov was lighting up the stage more than any of his colleagues. It was not a case of his technique being superior to that of the other men in the company. Rather, it was a matter of panache and, for lack of a better word, style. Baryshnikov's solos in "Class" were not many, but every one of them and every single turn, step and leap that made up their component parts was loaded with an extraordinary exuberance. By Terry Perkins Asleep at the Wheel is one of those rare bands that don't have to depend on Top 40 hits or continuous airplay to maintain popularity.

Although the band hasn't had an album released in America since 1980, a capacity crowd greeted it Tuesday evening at Mississippi Nights. Perhaps one of the reasons for the band's long-term appeal is the kind of music it does a hybrid mix of coun-'. try-western, big-band jazz and Cajun fiddle music, with more than a touch of boogie woogie and rock-and-roll. Asleep At The Wheel has been to-' gether since 1970, but the only member of the band who has been a con- stant during that period is the leader, Ray Benson. Benson plays lead guitar and trades vocals with rhythm guitar- ist Chris and his presence provides the focal point for the stage show.

Benson has no problem holding cen- ter stage. He stands six feet seven, not including cowboy hat. His unique sense of humor made the breaks between songs almost as enjoyable as the music itself. The band began its first set with one of its best known songs, "Miles And Miles of Texas," and followed that with a swinging version of "Route 66" that featured a fine solo by keyboard player Jim Alexander. The rest of the opening set was high- lighted by swinging versions of several tunes by Bob Wills, who was undoubt- edly one of the biggest influences on Asleep at the Wheel's musical style.

The band's renditions of "Fat Boy Rag" and "That's Your Red Wagon" kept the dance floor packed, and Benson's comedic rendition of one of the band's earliest hits, "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read," had the crowd cheering for more. The second set featured the band in a more swinging mood. Versions of Count Basie's "One O'clock Jump" and "Jumping At The Woodside" did jus- tice to the originals, and saxophone player Michael Francis provided swinging solos during both songs. In the course of Asleep at the Wheel two lengthy sets, the band managed to touch a variety of other Gove 0 5 CD musical bases, ranging from a version of the country classic "Sally Gooden," which featured the fine fiddle playing of Larry Franklin, to another Bob Wills classic, "Take Me Back To Tulsa," that allowed pedal steel player ivuuu Junior Brown his turn in the spotlight. Fans will be happy to know that Asleep at the Wheel has finally re-1 viffb 15-yoar warranty corded another album that should be available by the end of the year as an American release.

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