DANCE

Farafina Kan

---

Even if your taste in music runs to sonatas and your idea of dance is "Swan Lake," Farafina Kan will knock your socks off. Saturday at Dance Place, this local American-born West African drum and dance ensemble boasted rock-solid drumming, tight ensemble work and fierce energy. It's powerful stuff.

The dancing is better than that of many other American-born African troupes. The energy is grounded, and movements flow. Yet the musical ensemble is what powers this troupe, which has benefited from the far reach of West Africa's post-independence national ballet companies of the '60s. After touring Europe and the United States, a number of company members settled there. Some even achieved a measure of international fame, including djembe (urn-shaped drum) greats Mamady Keita, Famoudou Konate, Fadouba Oular¿ and the late Djimo Kouyate. Farafina Kan's New Jersey-born founder, artistic director and lead djembe soloist, Mahiri-Fadjimba Keita, studied with them all. It shows in his skillful improvisation above the repeated, interlocking patterns of the ensemble.

As a troupe, Farafina Kan isn't afraid to experiment. While much of its stage repertoire is rooted in stage-oriented, traditional fare from places such as Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast, new works like "Kuku: Funk-di-fied" incorporate Western drums, played by guest artist Ricky Payton Jr. "Nankama," featured in the group's superb first music video (directed by Genell Canty and shot in Guinea), is a song that mixes hip-hop, funk and African music, and it works beautifully because the creators are equally proficient in all traditions.

-- Pamela Squires

Fuego Flamenco 3

---

GALA Theater's Fuego Flamenco 3 program culminated Friday and Saturday with Edwin Aparicio & Company, a troupe of 16 artists from around the world headed by the dancer-choreographer so familiar to Washington dance aficionados.

The performance's most consistent feature was the superb accompaniment sustained by musicians such as top-drawer local guitarist Richard Marlow. The dancing was, overall, testosterone-fueled: Most of its excitement was generated by the bravura of the featured male dancers. Even the cast's six women were at their best in numbers in which they were dressed in dark suits like the men.

The first of these was the opening "Martinete," a masterly work whose genesis, according to program notes, had helped Aparicio resolve childhood memories of war and upheaval in his native El Salvador. The entire corps was used to excellent effect in this sober, a cappella study of flamenco percussion. Aparicio, however, was its sinew and soul, a technical powerhouse dancing with blistering conviction.

Timo Nu¿ez, who hails from Hollywood and looks like a movie star, followed with the devilish "Alegr¿as." Wearing black street clothes and gold boots, he projected bad-boy attitude as he played with rhythms, but he tossed off multiple pirouettes like a ballet prince. In "Sole¿ por Buler¿as," Norberto Chamizo, of Germany and Spain, was all refinement and self-possession as he effortlessly accelerated his state-of-the-art heelwork until his feet became a blur and then, mid-dance, knelt to tie his shoe.

These knockout acts proved hard to follow. Subsequent solos, although flawlessly danced, seemed too much of the same good thing. In "Tientos," a modern-dance fusion for three couples, and in the ensemble's sprawling reprise of "Alegr¿as," the star turns belonged to the golden-voiced Jes¿s Montoya and F¿lix de Lola, both from Seville, who engagingly interpreted the traditional lyrics.

The dancers, though, after changing back into suits, returned to shine in the dynamite "Buler¿a" finale. Whether appearing alone, in small groups or as an ensemble, all performed with great skill and irresistible spirit.

-- Paula Durbin