In its first year, Montclair Dance Festival puts together an ambitious and eclectic program

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A welcome newcomer to the dance scene is the Montclair Dance Festival, produced by Freespace Dance; it made its debut at Montclair State University on May 31. Promising to become an annual event like the celebrations of jazz and film that have given this city a reputation as an arts destination, the first Montclair Dance Festival featured an ambitious program, with emerging artists and schools performing in the afternoon, and more established groups appearing in the evening at the Alexander Kasser Theater.

SMPHOTOS

Members of Carolyn Dorfman Dance in “Echad.”

Not all the companies were as polished as Carolyn Dorfman Dance, the contemporary troupe that opened the main…