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Thursday, Jul. 24, 2008

SLO choreographer has passion for dance

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San Luis Obispo choreographer Lisa Deyo dreams about dancing. She talks about it. She teaches it.

In fact, she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night with an entire series of movements choreographed, Busby Berkeley style, in her head.

“The reason I dance and the reason I choreograph is to communicate,” Deyo, 43, explained. “Everything just translates itself into dance in my brain.”

In Deyo’s hands, five women meeting for a simple morning chat becomes an exploration of love, loss and community. Circus freaks and cuckoo clocks inspire a story about self-identity. And casual, everyday interactions form the basis of more than a dozen vignettes.

“She always brings something different to the table that makes you think,” said Leslie Baumberger, artistic director at American Dance of SLO.

Deyo’s talent is on display this week with a dance concert featuring the world premiere of two pieces, plus local and visiting dancers. The show runs tonight through Saturday.

Deyo says her favorite part of dance is communicating her ideas to others.

“It’s always a conversation because the dancers physically contribute so much more than I could imagine,” she said. “They’ve breathed life into it in places I never knew there were.”

The dance concert kicks off with “Cartoon Girl Goes to the Circus,” a zany piece inspired by the work of local artist Mary Renzi-Cowitz. The title character runs away to the circus, where she finds a fellow outcast and falls madly in love.

“It’s kind of this surreal love story,” Deyo explained. “It’s wild and colorful.”

The choreographer transports audiences to a quiet neighborhood bench where women share their stories and swap advice in “5 Women and a Bench.”

One young woman describes a sweet seduction with sensuous hips and curving arms, twitching her skirt higher as she arches her back. Others describe pain and anticipation with angled torsos and nervously bouncing feet. Spanish singer Martirio provides a jazzy backdrop to the piece.

“It’s really a thank-you to all the women in my life,” explained Deyo, who dances in “5 Women.”

The show’s final dance, “Suite,” examines the subtle connections between people.

For instance, one of the 16 vignettes follows a couple who fall in love as children and, years later, meet by chance in an elevator. The piece, set to music ranging from Neil Diamond to The White Stripes, debuted in 2006.

“Suite” in particular is a tribute to Deyo’s ability to translate real life to dance.

“I’ve gotten whole pieces just walking down the street watching a conversation or seeing someone walking into a room,” she said. “Movement makes sense to me.”

Deyo got her first taste of dance as a toddler studying steps in Lori Silvaggio’s San Luis Obispo garage.

Even at that early age, Deyo had an uncanny grasp of movement.

Silvaggio remembers telling the young girl to move her leg in a certain way.

“She looked at me with her 4-year-old eyes and said, ‘That puts a lot of pressure on my spinal column,’ ” recalled Silvaggio, who later founded Academy of Dance and Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo. “I hadn’t met many 4-year-olds who even knew what a spinal column was.”

Theresa Slobodnik, who created Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo a few years ago, coached a 15-year-old Deyo on a tricky pas de deux in “The Nutcracker.” She remembers a young dancer “on the verge of leaping into great things.”

At age 16, Deyo joined Dennis Wayne’s Dancers in New York City. Later, she moved to Los Angeles to work as a dancer. Then came what Deyo calls her “dream dance job,” a three-year stint with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

The experience “has given me access to amazing dancers,” Deyo said, including Palo Alto resident Adrienne Foley, who appears in “5 Women.”

Just before she turned 30, Deyo moved back to the Central Coast and — as she says —“had a house, had a baby.” Her husband, Jacques Deyo, owns Voler Team Apparel, a seller of custom cycling clothing based in Grover Beach.

Over the years, Deyo has worked as a performer or choreographer for nearly every dance company in the county, including Cal Poly’s Orchesis Dance Company, Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo, and the now-defunct Gilbert Reed Ballet.

At American Dance of SLO, for instance, Deyo recently choreographed a well-received competition piece. The American Dancers company performed “Twitch” — a comic look at the hustle and bustle of modern life — at the Tremaine Dance Competition in New York City in January.

“She’s so open and caring when she works with the dancers. I can’t say enough nice things about her,” Baumberger said.

Deyo has also taught overseas, first during a 2002 tour of Russia, and more recently during a yearlong stay in Spain. In 2006 she won a grant from ARTS Obispo, the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council.

According to Slobodnik and others, Deyo has done much to unite the county’s diverse dance community. “She is the most supportive and encouraging person for anyone who has a passion to go into the arts,” Slobodnik said of the choreographer.