Bale Folclorico da Bahia.

People unused to attending dance events often approach them with fear and trembling. "But what if I don't get it?" they moan, and not without good reason. Much dance of the modern age sets out to mean something. The worst of it is wildly obscure, but the best of it resonates naturally with viewers, in that place in each of us that is beyond words. Like the ancients who danced to embrace both the communal and the spiritual life, Brazil's Bale Folclorico da Bahia (City Center, February 23-24, 1996) reaches for that place with its traditional dances. Adorned with headdresses, tassels, and bells, the dancers follow simple spatial patterns and push themselves to their physical limits, stamping, shaking, wriggling, flailing. They dance so hard that their spirits show, and their energy explodes into the universe.

So much of this movement, a melding evolved from Portuguese, Amerindian, and African cultures, speaks of power and pride. It's a demonstration by a people of their invulnerability, a radical celebration of their own particular beauties. The men show off in good-natured contests that combine upside-down balances and other exciting feats of strength. The women throw themselves with frenetic fervor into high, tight leaps. And when the two forces join--teasing, joyful, riotous--the juicy sensual energy reaches the point of combustion.