Always in motion

Odara Jabali-Nash is almost certainly the most well-traveled resident in her Bella Vista neighborhood. In the past few years, she’s been to Poland, Korea, Canada, Bermuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands and all over the United States.

Jabali-Nash is a member of Philadanco, a dance company that tours extensively. In fact, the dancers spend 30 to 40 weeks traveling each year.

For the 26-year-old Jabali-Nash, these tours are part of the pleasure of her career.

"I enjoy experiencing other cultures," she says. "Seeing the world changes your perspective and makes you more well-rounded."

Philadanco, which specializes in modern dance, has evolved into an internationally recognized company since its beginnings in 1970. Founder Joan Myers Brown is now artistic director of the company, which has a reputation for being especially welcoming to minorities. Currently, 15 of the 16 dancers are African American. Former members have been Hispanic, Ethiopian and from other ethnic groups.

Even with its hectic touring schedule, Philadanco does not forget the city that is its home base. (In fact, its official name is Philadelphia Dance Company.) It’s now a resident company of the Kimmel Center, presenting two programs each year on the stage of the Perelman Theater.

Next weekend, from April 1-3, hometown audiences will have the chance to see this renowned troupe present its annual spring program. It features four works, each by a different choreographer.

"They’re all very high energy," says Jabali-Nash, who dances in all four. "And they’re very complex, with different styles."

Each dance presents special challenges. For instance, in Tally Beatty’s dance titled "Pretty is Skin Deep, Ugly is to the Bone," the dancers are often whirlwinds of motion, doing jumps and split leaps high into the air.

Especially tricky is a solo that Jabali-Nash will dance during the Saturday matinee performance. She’ll enter the stage atop a ladder carried by four male dancers.

"I’m literally hanging from the ladder as they carry me out on the stage," she describes. The dancer then performs her solo right on the ladder. "I’ll probably be somewhat nervous beforehand," she admits.

In another piece, "Enemy Behind the Gates," by Christopher Huggins, Jabali-Nash is involved in a lift that sounds like a high-wire act. "I run and jump onto a partner who flips me over the head," she says. "And I end up sitting on his neck for about eight counts."

Jabali-Nash does this difficult lift not once but twice during the dance. She’s confident she’ll do it without missing a beat. "We rehearse so much that it comes easily, almost like breathing," she says.

But the dancer adds to her challenge by going barefoot in two of the pieces.

"Your feet get used to it," says Jabali-Nash. "Sure, your skin can split. But I prefer barefoot to dancing with ballet slippers because as a modern dancer, I feel more connected to the ground."

As she talks, she’s relaxing at a favorite Bella Vista caf� before her evening rehearsal. At 5-foot-6 and 125 pounds, Jabali-Nash has a dancer’s grace and erect posture. And she works hard at keeping fit.

Five times a week, she walks to a yoga studio in Center City. She’s a practitioner of Bikram yoga, otherwise known as "hot yoga."

In a room heated to 105 degrees or more, she practices 28 poses during the 90-minute sessions. "For me, it’s very good for strengthening and lengthening my muscles, and to gain core strength and flexibility," she says. Walking and biking also help her to stay fit — and, of course, so does dancing.

Philadanco rehearsals are held five times a week at the company headquarters on Preston Street near 40th and Market, which is also known as Philadanco Way in honor of the company. The regimen includes a warm-up class followed by a rehearsal. If the company is rehearsing a new piece, the dancers work directly with the choreographer. And new pieces are an important focus for artistic director Brown.

"She’s very good about bringing in new choreographers and fresh ideas so we don’t become predictable or stale," says Jabali-Nash. "She keeps us growing as artists."

Of course, the routine changes when the dancers are on tour. Often they give several performances in a particular city and then move on to the next.

"It’s a challenge, because every theater space is different, every technical crew is different," says Jabali-Nash. "We learn to be very adaptable."

She never envisioned this globetrotting life while growing up in Oxon Hill, Md. But from early childhood, she was a high-energy type. In a family of seven kids, Jabali-Nash was the most active and earned the nickname "Thumper" because of the way she always jumped around. At age 7, she was already doing gymnastics, and at parties, she loved to dance nonstop.

Her actual dance training began at age 15, when she auditioned at the Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Fifty girls auditioned, and Jabali-Nash was one of 15 accepted into the program.

The school day involved five hours of academic courses, followed by three hours of intensive dance training. But even after three years, she was uncertain she wanted to be a professional dancer. So after graduating with honors, she enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond with a major in pre-veterinary medicine. Halfway through her first semester, she attended a dance performance. It proved a turning point.

"It made me realize that I really did miss dance," says Jabali-Nash, who soon changed her major to reflect her change of heart.

Wanting more intensive dance training, she moved to New York to train at the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. The audition was tough, but she passed and was invited into the two-year training program and awarded a scholarship.

Afterward, she joined the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, known as Ailey II. The company is the junior counterpart of the renowned Alvin Ailey company. Typically, the dancers stay in the junior company for only two years.

Jabali-Nash had her career path well planned, and it led to Philadelphia. She’d seen Philadanco perform several times in New York. "I loved them!" she says. "And I knew they had a great reputation."

In January 2000, she came to Philadelphia for a one-day audition. "After each round, dancers kept getting cut," recalls Jabali-Nash. "I looked around and I was still there!" Finally, just two dancers remained, and she was one of them. Both were invited to join the company.

As a dancer based in New York, she also tried out for the cast of the blockbuster Broadway musical, The Lion King. And she was accepted, but turned the job down in favor of Philadanco. "I wanted to be a concert dancer," she explains.

Jabali-Nash has never regretted her decision. "I especially enjoy that we’re such a close-knit company," she says of the 16-member troupe. "When we’re on tour, this is our family. Even when we’re not on tour, we form close bonds and enjoy each other’s company."

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Philadanco presents its annual spring concert series April 1-3 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Broad and Spruce streets. Tickets are $28-$38 and are available through Ticket Philadelphia, 215-893-1999, or at the Kimmel Center box office. For information about Philadanco, call 215-387-8200.