A Vibrant BosmaDance

Creator's Restless Style Plays Best in Short Takes

You can feel the sting of inspiration in Meisha Bosma's works. Fresh experience seemed to spur the drive, emotional heat and flung-out movement in the seven pieces that her excellent troupe, BosmaDance, performed at Dance Place over the weekend. This sense of spontaneity was true of the older works as well as the new ones, though her dances dated from only five years ago, at most. Bosma, one of the area's most gifted and prolific choreographers, has been busy lately.

In addition to two premieres, three of the works on the program were created this year. One of the premieres, a dance on film called "Gokyo," resulted from a trek in the Himalayas. Another recent piece, "Sky Kisses Earth," drew on a three-month stay in India. It's little wonder that Bosma's dances ring with such unusual vibrancy; restlessness and intensity are attributable to their creator, too.

Her style is distinctive, with its explosive use of the limbs and images of collapse and recovery, as well as a melting softness and stillness. There's drama, too, though thankfully not melodrama. "Hereafter" begins with a film of Bosma and dancer Elad Schnabel wrestling in their underwear, alternately shoving each other away and groping desperately in a portrait of a relationship flameout. Bosma herself stands onstage, watching the film with us. When it's over, she launches into a solo of satisfying complexity; it's all mixed feelings, mostly sad and still unsettled, but the grim victory is that she's getting on with life.

"In Plaster" takes its name from Sylvia Plath's poem about breaking free of a false sense of self. The poem, recited in a voice-over, is deeply creepy even in its growing triumph, but that's tempered by dancers Carrie Monger and Stefanie Quinones Bass; their gently tumultuous and ultimately consoling duet told us it's not weird at all to struggle with who you really are.

Bosma's most successful works are, like these, quite short. She gets into trouble with longer attempts, because her compositional skills are not as developed as her gift for expression. "Sky Kisses Earth" meandered and rambled until the end, when there were flashes of great power as the group of eight came together in thrilling whirlpools and crests. "Every Man Is an Island," the second premiere, had an intriguing starting point: It was inspired by the work of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, an Armenian philosopher and spiritual teacher who emphasized the importance of dance. Beyond that, however, it wasn't clear what Bosma was getting at; the outpouring of movement, while urgent and earnest, could have related to anything under the sun.

"Gokyo" felt similarly random. Photographed amid rugged mountain peaks and ritual stone piles, Bosma appeared in a long green satin cloak, which billowed out prettily in the wind. As an expressionistic travelogue, it was a handsome effort, if thin. What fascinated her here seemed to be little more than the play of textures. Still, there was evident passion behind it, as there was throughout the program. It's clear she feels deeply, has a remarkable facility for movement and an alluring style all her own. But Bosma needs to slow down, organize her thoughts, study how to craft her ideas into a coherent whole. I'm eager to see her follow her inspiration through to a more satisfying conclusion.