Let us hear your body talk

Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba may come from different continents and backgrounds, but they share an intriguing and sometimes enigmatic worldview, as demonstrated in the premiere of "The Good Dance: Dakar/Brooklyn" at the Walker Art Center Thursday night.

The collaborative work embraces three themes -- the relationship between two artists, the cultural links between the Mississippi Delta and the Congo River Basin, and the act of seeking moral guidance and spiritual expression from the body instead of text. These elements are present in overt and subtle ways, but this creative journey is really just unfolding, its core messages resounding at times, still emerging at others.

"The Good Dance" opens with members of Wilson's Brooklyn-based Fist & Heel Performance Group and Ouamba's Compagnie 1er Temps from Senegal performing movement with a contemporary point of view underscored by glimpses of traditional elements. This striking blend of perspectives reflects Wilson's own "post-African/Neo HooDoo Modern dance" style and Ouamba's interest in an improvisation-influenced approach.

Wilson enters with a water bottle balanced on his head. He crisscrosses the stage, removing his jacket, putting it on, all the while explaining the thought process behind the work. The bottle never wobbles or falls. It's a clever but unnecessary trick. Meanwhile Fatou Cissé scurries around, her arms laden with water bottles that she sometimes drops unceremoniously. She tries to set them up neatly but this is a futile endeavor. There is a constant struggle between chaos and order involving the water bottles throughout the work, suggesting human imperfection, the resources of the mighty rivers, or the scarcity of sustenance.

The dancers are wonderful, and the choreographers give them provocative moments to inhabit. These include small but insistent gestures, fleeting yet chilling historic references (a swift arm toss around the head evokes the tightening of a noose), and a sense of the sacred through the use of gospel music and movement imitating baptism by immersion or the fervor of devotion.

In a final duet, Ouamba (originally from Congo-Brazzaville) fully reveals his magically fluid movement instincts while Wilson offers simple contrast through quiet restraint. They are as different in as many ways as they are the same, but together they have "written" "The Good Dance" with their bodies, and in so doing, shaped lasting connections between themselves and the places they inhabit.

Caroline Palmer writes regularly about dance.