A respected choreographer, educator, mentor and collaborator, Jean Isaacs needs little introduction in San Diego. Her dances are intelligent and can be deeply emotional and seductive, but foremost she is an optimist who loves to laugh and present dance in unexpected places - ideally with live music and adult beverages.

Isaacs has forever altered the local dance scene with her site-specific project Trolley Dances, and likewise, her dance-music series Cabaret Dances, now in its 10th year, is also a not-to-be-missed event.

San Diego Dance Theater performs I'll Build a Stairway to

Paradise in By George By Jean, this year's edition of Cabaret

Dances. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg

With her professional ensemble, San Diego Dance Theater, and fiance/pianist Steve Baker, Isaacs takes another walk on the bawdy side in Cabaret Dances 2011: By George By Jean, set to George Gershwin classics.

This year's program transforms the Garfield Theater into a nightclub, complete with round tables, candlelight, and wine. There's also a dinner available. The program features 11 Gershwin tunes, eight with new dances by Isaacs, an encore of Rhapsody in Blue from last May, and three musical numbers.

Best of show is I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise, a perfect cabaret piece for nine energized dancers who obviously love the challenge of live music. Unison sequences are thrilling, and fittingly, the lyrics tell of the madness and sadness of learning dance steps!

Isaacs offers memorable, romantic duets, such as Embraceable You, danced by Matt Carney and Liv Isaacs-Nollet, and Our Love is Here to Stay, a quirky duet for two men who press each other into the floor by the head like human corkscrews.

But Not For Me, that Baker plays with a Vince Guaraldi quality, presents dancers as youthful potheads who juggle and slide with soft feet. In sharp contrast, Isaacs touches the dark side in My Man's Gone Now, a chilling work about grief and loss for daughter Isaacs-Nollet and the lovely Minaqua McPherson; eerie green lighting and a bundle of sticks add to the grave-like imagery.

Minaqua McPherson, Matt Carney & Annie Boyer

in How Long Has This Been Going On.

Photo: Manuel Rotenberg

Gershwin's works are timeless, and Baker's arrangements are wonderfully contemporary. He performs with guitarists Fred Benedetti (and Patrick Kelly), and vocalists Rachel Drexler (and Katie Harroff and Liv Isaacs-Nollet). His arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue is impressive - he doesn't have an orchestra yet maintains the power of symphonic jazz - and the sound quality is excellent.

The program's structure is similar to those in previous years, and sightlines are a problem for tables in the back row. Like planning for any nightclub event, if you go, try to get a table near the stage, or just sit above it all. There's even a separate bar for those seated in rows without tables. Still, the cabaret setting allows you to stand up and move around whenever you wish.

New items on the menu include a yummy duet by guest choreographer Anthony Diaz and dancer Sarah Larson. Their sexy tango style, set to music by Kut and Swel, is an edgy complement to the program. (Diaz got an honorable mention for his solo in the Young Choreographers Prize competition last month where I was one of three judges). It is fascinating to see his seamless movement on another dancer, and the two have chemistry.

Larson is one to watch as she can undulate as wildly as Diaz, and so is Alana Burree, an apprentice with the handsome SDDT, who is a standout in S'Wonderful, partnering with Diaz to Latin rhythms ala Dancing With the Stars.

Also new on the menu this year is a brilliant blue liquid known as a Jeannie Baldini Martini (taken from Isaacs' maiden name and imagination). I highly recommend one, especially if you are uptight and sensitive to jokes about senior citizens, the Irish, or Santee. Comedian Claude Stuart's delivery is hyperactive, he's quite funny, and he even sneaks in a few goofy dance moves.

Just have one of those magic blue drinks. It will help his in-your-face shtick go down a lot easier. And honestly, you can't have a real cabaret show without a comedian. Professional dance, live music, adult beverages, and now a funny comedian too. This show is the real deal.

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