Edition: U.S. / Global

Dance in Review

Published: May 9, 1994

'Pop Dreams' David Rousseve La Mama Theater Annex

The crushed dreams of many black men in America is a compelling and important theatrical subject. And David Rousseve would seem to be the perfect choreographer to rise to that occasion. But Mr. Rousseve's "Pop Dreams" was a profound disappointment.

The piece, performed on Friday night, tells the story of a young black man who grows up dreaming of his father's love and of being a success. Using the device of a song-belting angelic inquisitor, Mr. Rousseve begins the evening as a hopeful young black soap-opera actor and then becomes a dying man looking back on his life in order to clear a way on his journey to the hereafter.

It takes nearly two-and-a-half hours to get there, too much of which is devoted to the pointless repetition of cliches and too little of which develops Mr. Rousseve's rich themes. The performers -- led by Mr. Rousseve, B. J. Crosby and Elizabeth Van Dyke -- are first-rate. Mr. Rousseve is an immensely gifted director, writer and choreographer. Aided by David Ferri's dramatic lighting, he makes imaginative use of every cranny of the stage space. And he has a poet's ear for telling metaphor and imagery.

Why then does Mr. Rousseve settle so often here for the tinny, bathetic and unbelievable? "Pop Dreams" cries out for a discipline and a distance that are lacking to a surprising degree considering Mr. Rousseve's experience and reputation. <JENNIFER DUNNING