With four distinct companies, two live violinists, and a youthful pre-show, San Diego Dances was an engaging mini-festival, complete with backbreaking bleacher seats. The production at the Golden Hill Youth Center had an abundance of viewers and variety, and that was its fascination and weakness.

Presented by The PGK Project and artistic director Peter G. Kalivas, the program of seven dances moved swiftly. As there was no curtain, dancers quickly took their places during light fades, a novel idea for fast transitions that other troupes should try in unusual venues.

Gina Bolles Sorensen and Kyle Sorensen of somebodies

dance theater step out in Public Law 107-56. They also

presented Bluprint, a dance for four women.

The program opened with dependence, a vivid duet by Kalivas that reveals how couples torture themselves in relationships. Violinists Kristopher Apple and Zarchary Hazen fueled the tension with an effective score. Dancers Ericka Aisha Moore and Justin L. Viernes responded with clinging spirals marked by desperate expressions. She gripped his shoulders but he slinked away. She leapt backward knowing he'd catch her waist, but a moment later he just moved her out of his way like a piece of furniture.

Two excellent works by somebodies dance theater also highlighted the program. The company with the funny name and no caps is lead by Gina Bolles Sorensen and Kyle Sorensen, two dance artists to watch, closely.

They specialize in "arresting imagery and movement nuance," and they can also be very funny, with a catch. In the duet Public Law 107-56, they strapped pillows onto their knees and one arm and battled each other like Sumo wrestlers. Still, the garbled score yammered on about serious news like the Patriot Act. A row of youngsters roared with laughter but soon caught on to the seriousness buried under the surface.

Bluprint was beautifully directed for four women who coiled their arms ever so smoothly and circled with pony trot feet until one jumped onto another to form a tower. They scrawled on posters of trees. One woman stepped over the other three as they rolled like fallen trees. Throughout the piece there was a sense of building and design, and the joy of creating patterns. With her strong focus and sly grin, dancer Katie Ó'Donovan had us hooked in the first few seconds.

Eveoke Dance Theatre performed Painless and Less Pain, a two-part dance (choreographed by Ericka Aisha Moore). The dances were separated by the intermission but were clearly connected; they had the same costumes and used similar music. Both were filled with anguished gestures, such as pressing a thumb to the forehead and offering your pain to someone else. Dancers Nikki Dunnan and Erika Malone exuded confidence and strength, but the deja vu movement and angst became predictable.

Jennifer Curry with dancers from California Ballet performed Don't Wake Me, a jazzy, ho-hum ballet set to SlowPho (choreographed by Curry). Curry is a lovely ballet dancer, but this offering was poorly staged. Lifts were very much like helicopter blades whirling, and a there were several wobbles. The men thoroughly enjoyed dancing in denim and rolling on the floor. The women seemed uncomfortable with the rhythms and confined space. The second half of the dance was most successful, in part because there was less chaos - there were fewer people crammed onto the floor.

Concrete Jungle, a premiere by Kalivas, was a snapshot of groovy times, when you could shimmy and pour yourself a bourbon on the rocks. It was also physically demanding for the dancers. Set to music by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, three couples ran in place like go-go dancers, did flying somersaults on a hard tile floor, and never seemed to stop. Lifts weren't always attractive, and neither were the sequined minis for the women. Still, it was a lively chuckle, and the dancers gave it their all.

Three dancers from the Stella Nova Dance Company, a professional youth company, performed The Lotus in the pre-show.

The PGK Project performs at Anthology in Hollywood Glamour Ball, April 17th. And Kalivas is artistic director for Dance/Theatre, Apr. 22-25th at the Diversionary Theatre, featuring five local choreographers premiering new LGBT Theater inspired dance works.

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