Mega-moves Fall brings a full slate of choreographic delights BY JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ
	Fall Preview 2003 American sweethearts From Courtney Love to Gina Gershon and the Garage Girlz BY MATT ASHARE Fall safe After a summer of sequels, the real films return BY PETER KEOUGH Curtain time From Of Mice and Men to Bat Boy:The Musical BY BILL RODRIGUEZ Mega-moves Fall brings a full slate of choreographic delights BY JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ ‘From the makers of Smallville’ Plus Whoopi, The Mullets, Rob Lowe, and HBO BY JOYCE MILLMAN

Opportunities to see dance in Rhode Island during the fall months have often been exclusively at the Performing Arts Series at Rhode Island College, musicals that come to the Providence Performing Arts Center, or a group included in the Great Performances Series at the University of Rhode Island. This fall, all of those options exist to see wonderful out-of-town dance troupes, but there are also several local dance companies presenting full programs.

Festival Ballet Providence opens its 26th anniversary season October 3 through 5 at the VMA Arts & Cultural Center with the world premiere of Viktor Plotnikov’s production of Carmen, with music by Georges Bizet. Plotnikov has been a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet and has previously created small workshop pieces. Festival’s artistic director Mihailo Djuric appreciated the emotional element he saw in Plotnikov’s work and convinced him to do Carmen for the 20-member Providence company. Plotnikov’s choreography has a contemporary flair, but also tells a story through very focused movement sequences, a plus for the complicated drama of the gypsy temptress Carmen.

A new program this fall for Festival is titled "Up CLOSE on HOPE," a studio series of short works by Rhode Island choreographers, including Festival dancer James Brown and independent choreographer Colleen Cavanaugh. The first two "Up CLOSE" shows are on November 8 and 13. Also on Festival’s lineup is the ever-popular Nutcracker, which will play on December 12 through 14 at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Island Moving Co. will again present A Newport Nutcracker at Rosecliff November 28 through December 5. Choreography is by Island’s artistic director Miki Ohlsen and principal dancers Eva Marie Pacheco and Michael Bolger, both of whom figure prominently in the ballet. This incarnation of Nutcracker, which takes place in several rooms of the Newport mansion, with the audience shifting from place to place, gives fresh perspectives to this perennial holiday favorite.

Also on Island Moving Co.’s fall agenda (they often have had only a summer season in Rhode Island) is a full program on October 30 at Rhode Island College’s Sapinsley Hall, with one of the most popular pieces from their Flight of Steps concerts in July. Surrender, a new work by Ohlsen, has a stunning pas de deux that features Danielle Genest and Rolando Troconis. It is set to choral music by Gustav Mahler, with a new light sculpture by Robert Kieronski. Seen by this reviewer at Waterplace Park recently, it’s an incredibly moving duet that tugs at head and heart. Island will also perform Scott Putman’s Remember the Air Along the Forgotten Path and Colin Connor’s Recent Arrivals.

Fusionworks, which always has a spring concert at Brown’s Ashamu Dance Theater, is also planning a fall program at RIC’s Sapinsley Hall on November 21 and 22. The evening is called Blast, referring to "blast from the past" repertory pieces as well as to "having a blast," the kind of energy that Fusionworks dancers pour into their work. The rep dances, all choreographed by artistic director Deb Meunier, are Stippling Line, which begins with a calm solo and moves into a maniacal jumping trio; Lizard In the Window, a quartet inspired by many primal images, including the woman warrior theme; and In Lieu of the Next Goddess, an Aztec-flavored piece influenced by a trip Meunier made to Mexico. Meunier is also presenting a new work, as is company member Stephanie Stanford.

At the Carriage House Stage in Providence this week (September 18 through 21) is the local hip-hop/club-dance group Dance Planet, witha program titled Body, featuring choreography by Derek and Doug Perry that mixes hip-hop and MTV-style dances with pop, house, and ’80s music. Also seen at Waterplace Park, this group rocked the joint!

The biggest names in dance coming to the state this fall are the Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Sean Curran Dance Company, both headed to Rhode Island College, and Riverdance, which is returning to the Providence Performing Arts Center.

The Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform on October 22 in Roberts Hall. Now in its 48th year, the company has performed the 71-year-old Taylor’s dances in more than 60 countries and 450 cities. Taylor can show us how breathtakingly beautiful everyday movements can be, and also remind us how archetypal certain of those movements are. He has used music from ragtime to reggae, from loon calls to elevator music, from Bach to novelty tunes, to complete 118 works, and he has been hailed by Time as "the reigning master of modern dance" and by Newsweek as "the world’s greatest living choreographer."

The Sean Curran Dance Company will perform on December 5 at RIC’s Sapinsley Hall. Curran’s stints with the Bill T. Jones-Arnie Zane Dance Company and Broadway’s Stomp have given him a special ear for the rhythmic and musical underpinnings of dance. But along with his own mesmerizing physical agility, many of his dances incorporate a deep psychological and, at times, almost metaphysical element. In contrast, others are wildly satiric and filled with clowning. His soul-searching solos may touch on the Irish step-dancing of his childhood,the spatial inventiveness of contemporary masters Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, and Trisha Brown, or the in-your-face urgency of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. Backstage magazine has dubbed Curran "a real ‘choreographer’s choreographer.’ "

What can only be termed a "dance phenomenon," Riverdance comes to PPAC December 2 through 7. This combination of Irish music, dance, and song took Dublin by storm when it premiered in February 1995, and continues to break box-office records.

And turning the corner of the old year into the new, January will bring Saturday Night Fever to PPAC (January 9 through 11); the Vessella Dance Project to RIC on January 25; and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, which brings together classic Chinese and American modern dance, to the University of Rhode Island on January 26. So don’t skip out on dance performances after that round of Nutcrackers in December!