Moving Arts Dance

Sept. 23-24, Cowell Theater

REPERTORY COMPANIES &# 150; companies not primarily committed to one choreographer's work – always have the challenge of finding pieces that (a) the dancers can and want to do and (b) make up an evening that you can sell to an audience. If, in addition, you have high ambitions but don't have much money, you need to find choreographers who want to make work for you for a pittance. Moving Arts Dance Company seems to be navigating these treacherous rapids with considerable aplomb. In the last few years, artistic director Anandha Ray has opened the company's wings by bringing in fresh contributors and by looking beyond its Walnut Creek home base. The result is that this small ensemble (currently eight dancers) has taken flight, both with touring engagements and in a repertoire of highly individualized styles. The current program, "Pearls of the SF Bay Area," focuses on a broad spectrum of Bay Area choreographers. Jennifer McAllister's work throbs with a quirky sense of humor; both Robert Henry Johnson's and Michael Lowe's works are ballet-based, but stretch quite differently into unexamined territory. Both also make intriguing use of music. David Fonnegra, a recent arrival from Venezuela who is now dancing with Diablo Ballet, takes on that quintessential American, Frank Sinatra. Completing the program are works by Ray herself, who had the guts to start a modern dance company in Walnut Creek. 8 p.m., Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF. $10-$25. (415) 345-7575. (Rita Felciano)