Although the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Department of Theatre and Dance bills its first concert of the new academic year as a student performance, the extensive professional experience of several participants is evident in the caliber of performing as well as choreography.

Two examples of this expertise are Celia Chun and Kelly Wadlegger.

Chun is known in the local dance community for her role as an artistic director, dancer and teacher with Honolulu Dance Theatre, while Wadlegger recently arrived in Hawai'i after a four-year teaching job in Thailand.

Chun's choreography features dancers on pointe. Rather than striking pretty poses or delivering tired classroom combinations, however, four lithe bodies move across the stage like a bevy of loose-limbed spiders, perched on pointe in a straddled second position, gazes fixed on the audience. Clad in dark leotards and tights and wearing skullcaps, their unpredictable progress is interrupted occasionally by a supported position, one dancer precariously balanced while others slowly pivot around her.

Chun's perfection as a performer is evident in the short solo, "Whatever Lola Wants," choreographed for her by Tiana DeBell. The varying dynamics, controlled attack juxtaposed with lushly flowing movement and precision of timing could serve as an excellent role model for less-experienced dancers.

First-year graduate student Kelly Wadlegger challenged herself by tackling Stravinsky's classic and formidable musical composition, "Le Sacre du Printemps," a work which has been explored by every major choreographer of this and the past century, beginning with Nijinsky's historic creation in 1913. In this truncated version (the final two movements of the piece), Wadlegger pits two groups of "Village Dancers" against the Chosen One who eventually becomes the sacrificial victim of a primitive ritual. Wadlegger's keen musicality and refined architectural aesthetic produces a richly composed, powerful and kinesthetic dramatic work. Maryann L. Peterson is ideally cast in the role of the Chosen One.

Notable among the 11 dances on the program was also Becky Helfert's "Field Ready," a gentle but strangely moving dance for six women accompanied by Kimmie Rhodes' and Willie Nelson's rendition of "Love Me Like a Song." Rather than mimic the lyrics of the song or slavishly follow its rhythmic patterns or melody lines, Helfert creates a gestural language of her own that conveys a portrait of a group of women sharing fleeting moments with a friend (Helfert). Instead of restricting herself to the simple rhythm of the song, Helfert provides a fine example of how one can successfully choreograph a dance to popular music by exploring the silences and varying the timings.

Chansri A. Green created "Chaos In and Out" using many undergraduate students. Aside from one small collision (reminding one of John Cage's words, "The art of choreography is learning how not to bump"), the complex interweaving of the groups (color-coded with teams clad in black tights with blue, pink, purple or gray tops) and insistent propulsion of bodies about the stage serves as a breathtaking and uplifting finale to an evening of excellent dance.