“The Bach Project,” performed Friday evening at the VSA North Fourth Art Center, explored six Bach cello suites, all based on French folk dances that became favorites among 18th century royalty. The suite eventually influenced the development of symphonic form.

Adams and Eberle bring a rich background in modern, ballet and jazz techniques to their collaborative works, creating a physical and emotional intensity to their performances. They conceived this project in the mold of informal time, spent on a lazy afternoon perhaps, responding and improvising with friends. None of this performance, however, was improvised.

Marcel, an extremely gifted cellist who at 21 years of age has already begun a successful international career, opened the concert plucking his instrument in Bach’s Suite No.1 in G Major. It was an understated opening in which the dancers watched him as they warmed up to one side.

Three chairs were shifted as the dances progressed. Marcel moved upstage after the opening to play the Prelude and Allemande of Suite No.4 in E-flat Major as the dancers began to move in all areas of the stage, meeting, circling, and exploring space. Eberle’s solo evolved based on a rond de jambe motif, foot circling on the floor, smooth pirouettes and flowing gestures that followed the roving melodic line of the Allemande. Adams followed in the fast moving Courante with light, more aerial patterns that fairly skipped along.

Marcel played alone for the Courante in Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, breaking into song in a kind of classical skat as he gestured to the dancers with his bow. The dancers joined him with sharp-gestured accents of elbows, hands and feet as they sat on either side of him. This became a playground of dance and music, full of good humor.

Suite No. 5 in C Minor offered three dances. The Sarabande was slow, meditative, even dreamy, and the dancers moved in close contact with each other, sharing weight as they arose from the floor and pulled gently away, exploring slow lifts and balances.

The Gavotte, a moderately fast, almost march-like dance in quadruple meter, brought the dance movement into sharply changing directional patterns, the dancers avoided contact with each other, then broke into fidgety, wiggling moves before returning to the sharp patterns in space.

The Gigue, with skipping rhythmic patterns became a humorous play on the waltz and mock tango.

Marcel returned to the Prelude in G Major with its rolling melodic line to end the concert. Adams and Eberle danced fluid, suspended movement that breathily sculpted the stage space.

The space was a bit large for this small group of performers, and it was suggested in the audience discussion following the concert that side curtains would have helped frame the architectural movement and music presented. Still, the rich content of this performance succeeded in mastering any spatial problem.

The Bach Project – A Collaborative Performance of Music and Dance.

Where: Body of Santa Fe, 333 Cordova Road.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday, August 11, and 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. August 12.

How Much: $15 advance, $20 at door. Reservations call (505) 986-0362.

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