Along with the notable celebration of the company’s 40th anniversary, this performance welcomes two world premieres: Garth Fagan’s “Madiba” as well as principal dancer and muse Norwood Pennewell’s “Liminal Flux.”

Following another revival – the somber and patient “In Memoriam: The Innocent, The Brave, The Hands, The Minds…All Mankind” (2001) honoring the victims and survivors of 9/11 – the greatly anticipated “Madiba” takes to the stage.

In celebration of the South African leader, Nelson Mandela, the piece begins with a bouncy, lighthearted duet that sets the tone. The duo smiles at each other, the female dancer jumping into a straddle, caught midair by her male counterpart. Other dancers enter the space and step backwards in a circular path, pausing to undulate their hips, complementing the music’s rhythm (musical arrangement by Abdullah Ibrahim).

Video (Carvin Eisoln) is projected on the backdrop and takes multimedia to a new, intriguing level, as we notice Pennewell has a video camera secured to his head while dancing, and the tilted angles and raw images of colored lights beaming through the dancer’s bodies is live footage. Pennewell goes on to perform solo in silence, the movement colored by a mesmerizing momentum, broken up by flashes of jerky accents.

Next up is Pennewell’s “Liminal Flux” which paints constantly shifting images, patterns and paths of the dancers moving in the space. The movement is full-bodied and from time to time the dancers melt to the ground or break out in sweeping rounds of barrel turns.

The transitions throughout the evening fade in and out, the essence of the dance prior lingering a moment after the lights dim. This is especially true of “Translation Transition” (2002) with echoed movement between single dancers and the group, Afro-Caribbean inspired body rolling, and highlighted technique ending the evening.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY – Jennifer Thompson