February 12-18, 2004

artpicks

A.S.H. Contemporary

Dance

A young man from West Chester named Braham Logan Crane brings A.S.H., his small, three-year-old dance troupe, to Painted Bride for two Valentine's Day performances. Crane really is young, just 20, and A.S.H. stands for "Artists Simply Human." The son of a dance instructor and grandson of a Broadway dancer, Crane's been dancing pretty much all of his life. While his focus has been jazz dance (he won the 2003 Jazz Dance World Congress International Choreography Competition gold medal) he's also trained with the Miami City Ballet and teaches hip-hop.

His seven-person troupe is mostly young too, with equally wide-ranging movement backgrounds -- really wide. Their résumés cite such stints as gymnast, personal trainer, Dallas Cowboys halftime show performer and tap gold medalist. Add in the guests -- two older, former Bolshoi Ballet dancers and Carlos Lopez from American Ballet Theatre -- and you have a mix that puts the fuse in fusion. Crane says the company dances "all styles fused together. It all tends to look contemporary, even the ballet." It's something of an official launch, and the first full-program concert, for the spunky little outfit. So why not see how it floats?

A.S.H. Contemporary, Sat., Feb. 14, 5 and 8 p.m., $20, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914.

—Janet Anderson

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