In developing METRO TRANSFORMATION, Director Louise Reichlin played several dozen pieces of music that she was interested in for dance, and she and Jill Elaine Collins improvised to them. When Jill heard a jazz/Latin piece, her Improv already looked like a dance, and under Louise’s direction, she and Mcknnly Moren worked out a number of technical lifts, and patterns. Louise suggested a story line about a girl walking past a worker, drilling the streets for a better road, also suggesting movement from different dance forms ranging from the Lindy, Tango, Charleston, E Indian Bangra Folk Dance, and New York Salsa. Again, the two dancers worked out specifics, supplying stunning moves.

REVIEW
“The first new work, METRO TRANSFORMATION, was characterized by a flurry of social stylings danced between a construction worker and an elegant passerby. The two were dressed according to their roles, one a man in a safety vest and hard hat, chiseling away the concrete with a jackhammer; the other a woman in a long flowing green dress, her red fan leading her whirling through the street and into his arms. Their dalliance consisted of energetic turns and lifts permeating recognizable social dance forms such as tango, salsa, and lindy. Amidst the exchange, a transformation occurs; their meeting concluded as quickly as it began; the male dancer exited as the female dancer assumed his work, perplexed as she hammered away. The playful piece reflected Reichlin’s artistic value of social stories and whimsy.” LA Dance Review