BWW Reviews: THE LOOK OF FEELING Moves at Steps Beyond

In a quaint studio theater at 74th Street and Broadway, Steps Beyond hosted a legendary affair, likened to the historic backdrop that inspired The Look of Feeling. Gaudy uptown apartments spilled light into the stripped down set as artistic director Bradley Shelver greeted guests with palms clasped, smiling genuinely. The intimate air was as welcoming as a friend hosting new guests.

The familial and neighborly mood recurred throughout the evening as Francesca Harper whisked across the floor after an unusual introduction. Hope Clarke opened the show with an ending. And truly, it is the ending of a life that spawned the performance, as none other than the mother of Harper, the late dance pioneer Denise Jefferson.

Clarke began her career in West Side Story and has since moved between theater and television, with all of the animated grace of her authentic bravura. A Tony Award winner, she is a true heroine, not only of African-American arts, but for women everywhere.

Harper enigmatically inherited the stage, not only in the shadow of Clarke, but also of her mother. Originally a one-woman show, the duo was charming and spellbinding in their delicate artistries. Harper filled some of the grandest shoes that New York dance culture has ever fashioned, and with all of the studied grace of a natural born performer.

From the White House to Harlem, Harper has danced her way through American history. The Look of Feeling exhibited this history as running through her veins, recounting the acquisition of the Jefferson name during the slave-era at the Monticello. She then moved to Coffeeville, Mississippi, prior to joining the Great Migration north to New York, though not without a colorful interlude in Paris among the expats of the Harlem Renaissance. "Magnifique!" she intoned, and with marvelous beauty.

Harper embodied her ancestry with all of the shockingly human strength of a full-hearted woman. Jefferson brought her daughter up on her own, while ascending in the vibrant arts paradise of New York City in the '70s. In 1974, Alvin Ailey hired Jefferson at his prestigious American Dance Theater, where she soon became Ms. J to a student body numbering 3,500. During the post-show artist talk, Shelver remembered her emotionally. "She made artists," he said, to tearful applause.

Photo: Breton Tyner-Bryan

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