-Kenoth Shane Patton as Everyman in Dance Kaleidoscope’s ‘Seasons,’ which was performed last weekend.-

 

Seasons, created in 1993, is vintage David Hochoy on several levels. While it’s Everyman’s story from birth to death with struggling to make sense of it all in-between, it’s equally the exploration of context in which that life is cast. Kenoth Shane Patton delivers layers upon layers of a man’s search for his place within society. Yet his complexity is equally matched by the company, who individually and collectively go with him to the depths of subtlety and the breadths of superficiality. It’s very much a partnership.

This bonding manifests itself as well through production elements with Laura E. Glover’s lighting and Michele Hankins’/Cheryl Sparks’ costumes as a pas de trois with Hochoy’s choreography.

The core of Hochoy’s work delves into the delicate balance between sensual, sensory, intellectual and seductive elements. Both narrative and nonlinear, Seasons unfolds through relationships. The story is simple, birth in spring, adolescence in summer, maturity in fall, death in winter, with the cycle beginning all over again with new birth, in nature’s endless, seemingly repetitive circling. Each of the segments, which could stand alone as a complete work, has outstanding moments.

In Spring it’s an absolutely lovely Pas de Quatre to Debussy’s Clair de Lune. Summer is a riot of rebellion and experimentation set to Beatles songs, yet it is Patton’s seeking for his place within constantly shifting shafts of light that wrenches. We elders want to shout out, it’s OK, be different and proud of it, but we’re not part of the performance. Rites of passage are required for a person to move forward. Warped people are those who are not permitted to go beyond toddlerhood. Fall’s stellar moment belongs to Long and Megerdichian, who make comedic slapstick high art. Their take on tango is a long way from sultry. Winter’s etching is the mirror dance between Melendez and Patton. It shimmers in its tenderness of self-awareness. It is the ultimate hope, to know who we are and embrace it.