Philadanco performance celebrates its men

There were seven of them. It was obvious that they were strong, prepared and able to perform…. There were seven of them. It was obvious that they were strong, prepared and able to perform. Agile and precise, they were like a small militia ready for a captivating and thrilling battle. Rather than exposing the chiseled bodies taking their positions, low lights outlined the silhouettes that seemed to glide across the stage. These are the men of the Philadelphia Dance Company, known as Philadanco.

The high-energy, technically trained dance company came to the Byham Theater Saturday for a single performance sponsored by the African American Cultural Center; this performance featured two works from the 2003 tribute program “We Too Dance: African American Men in Dance.”

The women of the company were not left out by any means. The men just got a chance to leave their traditional role of accompaniment, taking center stage to prove their versatility and talent.

Male dancer Marc Spaulding of Mitchellville, Md., said it was “a great opportunity for male dancers.” When founder and executive director of Philadanco Joan Myers Brown had the vision to showcase the men in the company, Spaulding said he became aware of the “responsibility to portray a strong and assertive position so people view male dancers as athletes as well as artists.”

Spaulding recounts that the first and biggest obstacle in being a male dancer is being comfortable.

“Dance is a gift. It is something I’ve been blessed with,” he said. “It has nothing to do with masculinity and sexuality.” He added that he has always had to deal with the stereotypes surrounding male dancers since he began his career at the age of 14. “Kids can be ignorant.”

Spaulding started dancing at the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. Ironically, his blessing started out as punishment. His mother wanted him to do something that would keep him busy and focused, so she forced him to audition for dance.

“There was such a need for men, they took me,” he said.

He was very athletic and carried some of the discipline he had acquired from sports to dance. He said they both require physical and mental maintenance and long hours.

Spaulding noted that he got more of an education from dance. He was exposed to classical music by composers such as Mozart, Vivaldi and Bach. He went to theaters and took classes in art form and dance history.

All the training was evident as Spaulding performed in his favorite piece of the evening, “Blue,” choreographed by Christopher Higgins. One critic called this piece “a moving exploration into male physicality and psyche.” Spaulding calls it “a regression of manhood.”

As the dance progressed, the costumes came off.

Spaulding compares the opening of the piece to “full-fledged man,” as the men entered the stage wearing long, soft blue garb. In the next section of the dance, the men reentered bare-chested (eliciting oohs and ahhs from female audience members).

Spaulding interprets this section as the time when young men find themselves and decide if they will be men. Finally, and much to my enjoyment, the men appeared again in white shorts resembling boxer briefs, for the last segment, which Spaulding likens to boys on the playground. The piece was filled with leg extensions and very expressive partner work.

“Blue,” the last piece of the evening, was quite a contrast from “Back to Bach,” choreographed by Eleo Pomare, which started the night. It’s not every night that audiences get to see African American men dancing to the classical music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

“The contrast is great,” Spaulding said. “It shows great range and flexibility.”

The other two pieces of the night were Ronald K. Brown’s “Gatekeepers” and a seductive Afro-Caribbean trilogy “The Walkin’ Talkin’, Signifying Blues Hips, Lowdown, Throwdown,” choreographed by Urban Bush Woman artistic director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, featuring the female Philadanco dancers and inspired by the saunters of Jamaican women.

It was a stellar performance that validated the sentiment of Philadanco’s executive artistic director: “Philadanco is a national treasure.”