Prema Chandrathil, Columbia Chronical - ?The 58 Group Ensemble combines eight dancers and seven musicians to create a contemporary group of performers. Using several different styles of dance, martial arts, rock?n roll and jazz, this group performed at the Vittum Theater.

The group performed eight pieces, which were either music only, dance only or a combination of the two. Overall the place was not packed, which leads me to believe that I was not the only one who thought this performance was lacking in its ability to connect with the young, mainly student audience. The first piece, ?Imprint,? combined the dancers and music by Cameron Pfiffner. Some might say that this piece is extending the boundaries of dance as an art form, others might just give up and come to the conclusion that interpretative dance just isn?t their cup of tea.

Pfiffner, the musical director of the show helped create a unique feeling to match the strong and sharp movements from the dancers. The dancers all wore white outfits that helped express the senses of human experiences. Pfiffner?s music was definitely the only thing that kept me awake during the hour and a half show. His music is a combination of jazz and blues.

You could tell that the audience really liked his work, because everyone was bobbing their heads and tapping their feet. It was really a creative sound that helped the dancers connect with the audience?s senses. These senses were better seen through the second piece called, ?The Arrival.?

?The Arrival? had dancers move, bump and jerk to the beats of the music. It almost seemed like the dancer was being moved by imaginary strings that the music held over her. She was hypnotized by the sound and crawled, flipped and somersaulted over a bench, all due to the power of the Pfiffner?s music.

One of the more interesting pieces of the show, and probably the highlight, was the ?Flamingo.? The music was called the ?Flamingo,? by Grouya?Anderson, and the only words in the song were ?Flamingo.? All the dancers wore a variety of bright pink outfits, representing a flamingo. They danced and pranced around, imitating the birds. The people sitting in front of me were clearly moved by this piece, because they soon started to jerk their heads and bounce in their seats like flamingos.

The artistic director of the 58 Group is Ginger Farley. Some might remember that she was a faculty member here at the Dance Center. Her many years of dance, acting, and interests in Yoga and the martial arts, have helped her better understand the movement of humans and their expressive behaviors.

In May 2000, the Group played at the Hot House creating a world of Latin influenced, American nightclubs of the 1940s and ?50s. In the past, they have also performed at the Chopin Theatre, Dance Chicago and the Harold Washington Library.?