Balancing Act

_{"I," a quintet by guest choreographer Liz Burritt, uses texts (garnered from the dancers) and simple movement to examine how women experience and respond to failure. It opens strongly with the dancers on tiptoe, one arm reaching upward, hands and heads waving. They're like excited kids, eager to be called on. Suddenly, they deflate, dropping their heels, their arms, and collapsing backward in a clear, poignant picture of disappointment. Chanted texts then give the piece a sense of ritual power and community. But once individual characters emerge, some are thin. And given the volume of words, the movement can't be overly detailed or complex; mostly it illustrates what the words express. Onstage, the work lacked the impact it had had in rehearsal, in a smaller space.}