Think of Garth Fagan Dance as a post-modernist salad bar. Garth Fagan, head of the dance troupe and a prominent figure in dance, owes his unique style of choreography to the disciplines of Afro-Caribbean, ballet, modern and post-modern dance.
The musical scores for all of the Garth Fagan Dance routines are just as eclectic. One piece, "Never Top 40 (Jukebox)," includes music by Arlen, Puccini and the rocksteady Jamaican band from the 1960s, the Melodians, to name just a few.
Bringing together such a wide ranging variety of styles of dance and music is risky, but Fagan has impressed scores of critics with his synthesis of Old and New World dance and music. Alan Kreigsman of The Washington Post has called Garth Fagan Dance "astonishingly seamless."
Indeed, the dance troupe has a long and successful history behind it. Formed in 1970 in Rochester, N. Y. by Garth Fagan, the group is now in its 26th season.
Fagan, a native of Jamaica, first joined the Ivy Baxter National Dance Company in the United States. Fagan directed Detroit's All-City Dance Company and was the principal soloist and choreographer for the Detroit Contemporary Dance Company.
Heavily influenced by Baxter, Pearl Primus and Lavinia Williams, Fagan went on to study with renowned dance talents Alvin Ailey, Mary Hinskon and Jose Limon in New York.
Fagan has his own method of teaching, the "Fagan Technique," which seems to work reasonably well. Four members of his group have won "Bessies," the New York Performance Award, as meaningful to people who follow dance as an Academy Award is to cinema.
In fact, several dancers from the group performed at the 66th Academy Awards broadcast in 1994. The group has performed all over the world, from the United States to New Zealand and every place in between.
The 1993 piece "Griot New York," choreographed by Garth Fagan accompanied with music by Winton Marsalis, earned Garth Fagan Dance the widespread fame it has today. The troupe toured across the United States with the Winton Marsalis Septet, performing this dance on "The Tonight Show."
Later, in 1995, "Griot New York" was featured internationally on the PBS series "Great Performances."
Fagan's success has not let up in the past two years. In 1996, he was chosen to choreograph Disney's Broadway production of "The Lion King," which is scheduled to open this fall.
Normally accustomed to performing in New York's Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Garth Fagan Dance will be performing at 8 p.m. on June 28th and 7 p.m. on June 29th in the Moore Theater of the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts.
The group's most recent piece, "Mix 25" (1996), with music by Johannes Brahms, John Cage, Winton Marsalis and Foday Suso, a typical Faganian cross-cultural synthesis, will likely be performed.
Look also for "Griot New York," as well as "Passion Distanced," with music by Lithuanian transcendentalist Arvo Part. "Even in the formally manipulated parts of the fine, dark 'Passion Distanced,' steps looked vital, personal," Deborah Jowitt of The Village Voice said.
"Moth Dreams," a 1991 piece with music by jazz artists Andres Jolvit, Winton Marsalis and Thelonius Monk, should be entertaining as well.
Members of Garth Fagan Dance are know for their individual flare and virtuoso talent just as is their ringleader. The performances this weekend should prove to be explosive and captivating.
