Part of Davis' problem was her hodgepodge cast of visiting Russian dancers from Mussorgsky Ballet of St. Petersburg, filled out with what were called Young Performers (aged 17 to 12—and younger). These folks were all at very different levels of competence. The Russians are probably pretty good, but it wasn't apparent opening night. They were locked into stupendously boring moves—either waving their arms in the air like human semaphores while a sports announcer-like voiceover droned, or worse, trying to leap on Perelman's small stage and not knock over a Young Performer.

Davis is striving to create movement theater, not ballet, so all the ballet dancers were sort of incidental. Her choreography uses lots of modern lunges, contractions and some old-fashioned mime. However, having people clutch at their hearts while text is spoken is not movement theater. The overall look evoked old-style Soviet didactic ballet, which even the Russians put out to pasture long ago.

The original sound score by Timofey Buzina, general manager of the

Saint Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, was a steady percussive drone that sounded alternately like a chugging train and someone repetitively coughing. The production veered between the cast traipsing around in pseudo-antique togs (think Lord of the Rings) and gyrating girls in black leather and spiky ponytails. The Doric columns on wheels actually worked pretty well, but poor dead Polynices on what looked like a cafeteria trolley was less effective.

But at the conclusion, Davis focused totally on Antigone's death, creating very striking stage imagery, the simplicity of which suggested that with sharper focus she can do better.

If Ms. Davis is serious about raising her work above the level of a pretty good dance school recital—and clearly she's able—she might want to investigate the local community of innovators, where there's a long tradition of working with movement, spoken word, music and, yes, literature. These folks mostly don't have carts, but they have great horses, which they fearlessly ride bareback.

ANTIGONE March 16, Rebecca David Dance Company at the Kimmel Center