Four and a half stars
Kenyetta Dance Company; Scottish Rite Cathedral; Sept. 19

It’s a given that Kenyetta’s distinctive style will blow you away no matter where this lithe, energetic, hey-we’re-loving-this troupe is performing. Watching them, dancing seems as effortless as breathing, as wonder-filled as night sky moon and constellations, as compelling as raptors swifting and swooping through space. But, it is their embracing intellect that is most touching, here poignantly brought forward in an interpretation “celebrating HealthNet’s 40 years.” Conceptualizing “compassionate health care and support services” into movement seems daunting, but Nicolas Owens and Vanessa Owens (with additional choreography by Nikki Springer) particularize through individual and group stories the struggle for dignity in our society where rugged individualism and fragility teeter. Just one bad twist of fate puts anyone on the brink of disaster, with inadequate health care. There’s humor and pathos on the journey toward the ever-elusive American dream from 1968 to the present. Bravo to Tamara Ammon-Jones, Arika Casey, Melody Cutsinger, Lalah Hazelwood, Adrienne Jackson, Gregory Manning II, Nick Owens and Morgan Williams.