When dancer/choreographer Heidi Henderson called Rhode Island College last summer, looking for a spring 2002 slot for her fledgling company, Elephant Jane Dance, she had no idea she'd be putting together a full show for the fall as well as taking her company to London this month. But Henderson's dance colleague and former Groundwerx member, Donna Meierdiercks, now living in London, has kept her ear to the ground for possibilities of bringing Rhode Island dancers to England. A cancellation opened up for July 24 at the Purcell Room, a 300-seat venue at the prestigious South Bank Centre, and Meierdiercks and Henderson grabbed the opportunity for a performance of dance, film, and live music, called "A Dancing Dog's Breakfast" --"dog's breakfast" is British for "smorgasbord."

The programme will include live music, written and performed by Errollyn Wallen, whose recent album, The Girl In My Alphabet, has received much positive critical attention in England. Elephant Jane Dance will present two quartets, "Skirt" and "Cloud Quartet," plus solos by Henderson using two of Wallen's "5 Simple Songs," one a Gerschwin-like, gospel number titled "Beehive," and the other a more classical-sounding rumination on the secrets of life titled "Guru." In addition, Meierdiecks will perform a solo and a duet with Groundwerx member Cathy Nicoli, titled "Siamese Dream," which was seen in Providence in '98 as part of a circus-inspired work.

In "Siamese Dream," Meierdiecks and Nicoli appeared in skin-colored bathing suits and caps, a spiral painted on each cheek. As this reviewer noted in the June 12, 1998 Phoenix : "In dream-like partnering, [they] lift and position each other's limbs but also move apart for short spells before realizing the inexorable emotional and spiritual bonds that keep them together as much as their physical link." From a very unusual idea sprang some beautifully coupled movements.

Henderson's two quartets will be slightly modified from their performances last fall at RIC. There, "Skirt" was a quintet; for London it will be a quartet, with Henderson, Nicoli, Pam Vail, and Gretchen Rowe. Set to the adagio section of Luigi Bocherini's Quartet in D, Opus 6, "Skirt" is "one long canon," in Henderson's words, a three-minute phrase that looks different each time it is juxtaposed against a dancer who is doing the movement at a slightly different point. Similar to a choral round or a piano fugue, portions of the dance overlap and harmonize until they finally end up in unison.

"Skirt" is mesmerizing to watch, partly because of the gliding, swooping movement of the dancers, as they hold their overlong skirts above their feet. As they enter the stage, holding the extra fabric gathered toward their chests, there's a strong suggestion of Victorian times or even of African dances. The dignity of their stance and then the swirling and bowing of their bodies add to the feeling of ritual in this piece.

And though the steps and upper body gestures repeat themselves in varying sequences, the long earth-toned skirts eventually become a distinctive part of the movement as well. The dancers let them fall around their ankles, regally, rippling out like small ponds. Then they reach down and carefully fold the skirts into different patterns before gathering them up again in order to move more quickly with the music.

"I actually dreamt about dancing in a skirt that was way too long," Henderson explained in a recent post-rehearsal conversation. "I wanted the dancers to have to use their backs in the same way that you'd have to use your arms, reminiscent of what happens when you are carrying children or laundry or something else that occupies your arms. It may seem at first like a feminist statement, with the high, pulled-in waists and the emotional, expressive movement, but the lives of these women are fulfilled. I didn't want it to be pounding you over the head with a statement about binding women to skirts."

"Cloud Quartet," which is changing from an eight-minute work-in-progress to a full-fledged 17-minute dance, is set to the percussion music of Siegfried Fink, which ranges from playful to militaristic. This piece was inspired by a constructed photograph called "Suspension," by Robert Parke Harrison, in which storm clouds are tethered to the ground by ropes held by men. Henderson recognized that much of her choreography is driven from her legs and hips, from the weight of her torso, and she wanted to try for more emphasis on wide arm movements.

Indeed, "Cloud Quartet" opens with the dancers holding huge imaginary orbs overhead and eventually setting them down to move more quickly around each other. In flowing, filmy blue costumes, highlighted with red, this dance is characteristic of Henderson's style in its rootedness to the floor. At one point, all four lie prone, then rise to a crouch on one knee, then lean to a lunge with one hand still on the floor then throw one leg over the other, toppling gracefully in the opposite direction until they slowly lower themselves into the prone position again.

"I had done a lot of contact improvisation, though I don't yet include much partnering in my work," Henderson reflected. "But I like that sense of weight, of falling and trusting, of allowing gravity to have its way, of tripping along with what I've set in motion."

Henderson, who toured for eight years in the companies of Bebe Miller, Nina Wiener, Paula Josa-Jones, and others before moving to Rhode Island five years ago, has cherished the chance to create and show her work in a less daunting environment than New York. But when it came time to name her company, she turned to a phrase she had used to direct her dancers, "Don't dance like 'plain Jane,' dance like 'huge Jane,' " and the company became Elephant Jane. She and her dancers will extend that philosophy of dancing "large" to a feeling of living "large," in their newest adventure -- performing in London.

Elephant Jane Dance will present an open dress rehearsal on Friday, July 12 at 5 p.m. at Festival Ballet on Hope Street in Providence. They are also fund-raising for the London trip. Questions about contributions or about Elephant Jane may be directed to Heidi Henderson at 789-5250.

Issue Date: July 12 - 18, 2002