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A R TS:Pennsylvania Ballet Leaps Over Its DifficultiesBY JUDITH STUARTWhen the Pennsylvanians arrived at The Brooklyn Academy of Music last week they were four dancers short as a result of injury and illness. By the first intermission another had to hand up her shoes and the next day%u2019s rehearsal claimed yet one more ballerina. While injury is not altogether unexpected occupational hazard associated with dance, the Pennsylvania Ballet has had more than its share of statistical probabilities realized this season. The company, nevertheless, was undaunted opening night.Choo San Goh, the young choreographer, who has been so well received critically with works for the Washington Ballet and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, had a New York premiere last Tuesday with his ballet, %u201c Casella 1, 3, 4.%u201d The music was composed by the non-romantic Italian Alfredo Casella and was paralleled by the choreographer in his use of sharp, dramatic and sometimes frenzied movement. Here the company outshone the dance. %u201c Casella 1, 3, 4%u201d is a remarkably difficult piece to perform with its rapid pace, its repeated and quick changes of direction and its difficult and sometimes cumbersome partnering. Not one piece of technique was thrown out as the dancers rushed from one combination to another. This was especially extraordinary since just two minutes before curtain one of the three couples had to be replaceddue to injury.%u201c Casella 1, 3, 4%u201d was too breathless a dance. It lacked the variation gained by pacing. It lacked depth and development and it seemed a commercial venture.In Benjamin Harkarvy%u2019s %u201c Recital for Cello and Eight Dancers,%u2019%u2019 a work that would have worked better if it had followed rather than preceeded %u201c Casella 1, 3, 4.%u201d C le sees with great clarity the development of the composition as the eight dancers slowly and explicitly perform it. The dance demands technical excellence from its dancers, the duets and quartets work exquisitely against the cello, an on stage, solo accompaniment.The first evening closed with the revival of %u201cGraduation Ball,%u201d a dance about young girls and cadets at a ball. There arewonderful characterizations of the General dancedbyTyGranaroliand the Headmistress by Janek Schergen. Dana Arey and James Mercer were charming in their ephemeral moments as The Sylph and the Scotsman. Melissa Padcasy as the Romantic Girl and Magalt Messac as the Pigtail Girl were equally delightful in their roles.The lacy, highly fitting set design and costumes were created by Jose Varona. The music was by Johann Strauss and the entire effect was a frothy delight.The second evening consisted of Hans van Manen%u2019s %u201c Adagio Hammerklavier,%u201d %u201c Aura,%u201d a new work by Diane La Fontsee and Balancnine%u2019s %u201c Raymonda Variations.%u201d%u201c Adagio Hammelklavier%u201d is a ballet that has been in the repertory for some time now. It was performed well yet it lacked a sureness, a quality often taken for granted with this company. It is a slow, heavy dance, one where the audience is given the opportunity to see the exact itechnique of ballet quite clearly, perhaps too clearly. One gets lost in the slowness andBY JEANNETTE WALLSIgnorance, some say, is art%u2019s enemy. If so, one El Salvador native has launched her own war against ignorance of her cultural heritage. She%u2019s put together a show that is being publicized as a %u201c celebration of Pan American life.%u201dCurrently on display in the New York City Community Colege Library, the private collection of carvings, ceramics, textiles and souvenir-type what-nots, marks the 486th anniversary of Columbus%u2019 landing on Puerto Rico. Kathy Andrade, the woman behind the collection, has expressed concern over the ignorance of %u201c Americans%u201d over what goes on in their sister continent.The show, unfortunately, does little to dispell the stereotype of a lazy \sombrero , pulled over the eyes, taking a %u201c siesta%u201d under the shade of a cactus. But itloses the dance, a comment on the choreography more than the dancers.Dane La Fontsee%u2019s, %u201c Aura%u201d is a ballet for six men and two women. It is a lively, often exciting dance, performed with the usual finesse of this company. The ensemble work for the men was the most interesting with wonderful leaps and rapid changes of directions and levels.does have some excellent pieces. The result of 18 years of collecting, the exhibit is not huge, but, it is %u201c sizable,%u201d filling six glass cabinets with additional smaller exhibits at the library%u2019s branches. The items range from the brilliantly hued pottery from Mexico to the miniature scenarios from El Salvador, so small that a %u201c typical%u201d setting of oeople could fit into a teaspoon. There are some lovely silver pieces from Brazil, and Honduras comes on strong in the way of weavings and carved wood.A case full of dolls, Haitian ones, from Puerto Rico and Chile, flamenco dancers and peasant girls, some with cloth or wooden heads and painted faces, also add to the below-the-border flavor. The entire collection gives the feel of a %u201c mini excursion%u201d through some of the South American countries.Except for labels telling whereThe adagio sections were not as clear; they needed a more direct link with the major thematic lines of the work yet it was a lively modem ballet, well danced.lhe Pennsylvania Ballet performed through last weekend and will return in May with two totally different programs once again.each item came from the pieces, unfortunately, are unidentified: neither function nor date is given on almost any of the items. Some are easy enough to identify, but others are quite mysterious, and a short explanation would add to the interest of the show. The collection is no museum collection; nor does it profess to be. It%u2019s simply one woman%u2019s way of showing her neighbors that her culture has more offer this world than Taco Rico stands.486th Anniversary of Columbus Landing on Puerto Rico atthe N.Y.C. Community CollegeNamm Library, 300 Jay St.Open 9am to 8pm, Mon, Wed,Thurs, 9am to 5pm, Tues andFri. 643-3802.College Hails Pan American Life North Of The BorderA r t s b r i e f sComposers, Dancers JoinThe creative process of composing musical works to accompany dance works has always been intriguing. What comes first, the dance or the music? At the performances of Beth Cachet and Dancers you will have the chance to speak with composer Robert Kyr about his methods of composing for dance, ar d view the premiered performance of a dance to one of his ausical works. Also featured in the program are works fn m the company%u2019s repertory, plus a new jazz piece choreographed by Liz Milwe, and another new piece by Irene Dodd. Beth Cachet and Dancers include Beth Cachet, Kristin Jackson, Elise Pssikof and Jana Stalians.Beth Cachet Dance Company%u2014November 23, 24 and 25,at the Parish Hall of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, 157Montague St. Tickets are S3, or a TDF voucher, anddiscounts are available for senior citizens.%u2014J.L.BACA Shows Festive Crafts%u201c We%u2019ll be starting off the holiday weekend in downtown Brooklyn,%u201d promises Chuck Reichenthal from the Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association (BACA). And the kick-off seems to be one that%u2019ll do well by standards of style, as the group sponsors an Holiday Crafts Festival for the Thanksgiving-Chanukah-Christmas season, indoors at the lobby of Brooklyn Union Gas Company.In addition to basic selected crafts, ranging the gamut from batik and leatherwork to decoupage and metalworks, the day will be spiffed and boosted by a chorus of clowns, musicians and various other performers keeping time to the exhibits.The BACA Holiday Crafts Festival will be held atBrooklyn Union Gas Company, 195 Montague St., onNovember 24 and 25, 11am%u20148pm. For more information,cal! 783-4469 or 783-3077.Berman Gives BenefitSince appearing three years ago under the direction of Lucas Foss, pianist Lazar Berman has stung the country, with over 100 performances in all major cities, with his masterful performances of his 19th century repertoire including selections from Beethoven and Liszt. On Monday, November 24, the Soviet born pianist will return, to the Academy of Music to the site where his career began in a benefit concert for the Brooklyn Philharmonia. Berman will present Beethoven%u2019s %u201c Moonlight%u201d sonata, Haydn%u2019s %u201c sonata No. 13 in G. Major,%u201d and Kuhnau%u2019s %u201c Sonata in G Minor.%u201d The Brooklyn Academy of Music is located at 30 Lafayette Avenue. For further information, please call 636-4120.Belanthi Shows Art WorksSuspended in the front window of the Belanthi Gallery on Court Street in an eye-catching 5%u2019 X 8%u2019 abstract painting, %u201c The Centors%u201d , by Marina De Franza, a student inspired and motivated by Michangelo and Raphael. %u201c Waterlilies%u201d an oil painting by impressionist painter Pearl Friedman is also on exhibit.Inside the Gallery are works of art by 100 of the Gallery members. Etchings, sculptures, oils and watercolors are just of few of the categories of art that encompass two floors of the Gallery. To enhance diversity, woodcuts, flower arrangements, and ceramics are also included, and the Belanthi Gallery has ongoing programs such as concerts and poetry readings.ueituitiii Gallery is loenieu ai 142 Couri Street, and is opekf Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, 10am to 12midnight, Tuesday 10am to 12 noon, Thursday 10am to 12noon, 4pm to 12 midnight. For further information call855-2769.Three Play New CycleAn evening of drama and song, entitled, %u201c Love and Danger%u201d , is the current production by the New Cycle Theater. Three separate productions make up this evening: A one act play entitled %u201cThe Mothers,%u201d written in 1915 by Edith Ellis, about her hope for a reconciliation between te sexual impulse and the changing views of daily life in ar Cornish Village, a dramatization of biographical and theoretical information from the lives of Edith Ellis arid her husband Havelock Ellis (both wrote about sexual radicalism and philosophy), and the finale is made up of improvised scenes reflecting the theme of the evening in contemporary style. It is an evening about change that promises to be both poignant and provocative.Love and Danger: the current production by the NewCycle Theater, 657 Fifth Ave. Nov. 29-Deb. 1, Dec. 6-8,Thurs.-Sai. at 8pm and Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, Sun. at 3pm. Call788-7098 to reserve free seats.Two Painters ComplementAbstracts are the name of the game this week at the Work of Art Gallery, as two shows of stylized paintings and watercolors open there in a showcase of personalized perspective. With a collection of abstracts in oil, the work of Helene Manzo will be up to complement and contrast the watercolor abstractions of landscape scenes by Felicia Nassi; the two-person show will hang in the Gallery until the beginning of next month.Paintings by Helene Manzo and Felicia Nassi will be atlhe Work of An Gallery, 87 Aiianiic Ave., ihruugu Dec. 2.Gallery Hours: Tues.-Fri. 2-6pm, weekends noon-6pm.November 22,1979, The PHOENIX, Page 9