In Adaptation, presented by L.A Contemporary Dance Company, I find myself examining the cultural circumstance of contemporary dance. Itinerant dancers display familiar sequences of movements and groupings that are reminiscent of the lineage of contemporary dance and dancers in New Zealand. Beyond themes eloquently expressed in the programme, the group finds incidence and cohesion much more subtly by their collaboration rather than within the gentle chaos choreographed within each dance.

Stimulaze, danced by Drea Sobke, Tiffany Sweat, JM Rodriguez and Ryan Ruiz is a set of almost black comedic solos, duets, group based sequences, passing bodies and uncertain motives, all moving liquidly across the stage. The vocabulary has many moments of 3-dimensional spatial awareness and limbs placed with exquisite care. This work’s momentum shifts with the mix of music – classical composers, arias and Californian, Robert Amjarv’s filmic style.

Of the four works in the New Zealand premiere of Adaptation, the second shines – an absorbing duet choreographed by Genevieve Carson and danced by Tess Hewlett and Lenin Fernandez. The pairs’ moves are thoughtful, elegantly presenting recognisable hues of a relationship, though they are neither provocative nor conciliatory. FAM is set to another sensitive original score by Amjarv.

Sporty is more than that. While programme notes decide the alteration – of Western youth and generations, this work seems specifically oriented to the diverse body as in shape and movement style. Choreographed by Micaela Taylor, more at home in theatrical hip hop fused into contemporary dance, Sporty is oddly graceful and strangely reliant on the older dialectics of ballet dance.

The final work had me gasping. A generation of ‘Me Too’ has influenced the dancing scene. EBBA flaunts the female body clad in skimpy velvet leotards verging on sexy underwear. Gendered themes are coupled with Carson’s solo breakout panache. Costuming and flying hair are cleverly juxtaposed by some great ensemble dancing, strength in female understanding.

Adaptation does not take much acclimatisation. The audience seem very much at home. The dancers seem very much at ease. The body of work presented this evening, nicely visceral and pleasurably watchable, really needs no revision, maybe just some more of the more recent edition.

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