Lar Lubovitch Dance Company.

LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY SKIRBALL CENTER, NYU, NEW YORK, NY NOVEMBER 8-12, 2005

It's tempting to peg Lar Lubovitch's choreography as an overindulgence of beauty and lyricism. But consider it as you might an opera by Verdi. There are moments of ecstatic joy, but they are grounded by equally beautiful yet somber sections. It is just such chiaroscuro that balances Lubovitch's choreography and makes it dimensional. In his company's recent run at the Skirball Center, the U.S. premiere of the chipper Elemental Brubeck found balance with a reprise of Men's Stories, a rich, dark suite from 2000.

Elemental Brubeck is set to Dave Brubeck's lively tracks from his 1963 album, Time Changes. Rasta Thomas danced--or rather, exploded--in the "Solo" section, dressed in red clothes cut like Gene Kelly's (designed by Ann Hould-Ward). The muscular Thomas has astounding technical ability, soaring through splits and stopping his turns on a dime. A creature of the stage, his presence is magnetic (if lacking nuance), and he relishes all the scrutiny he demands.

Griff Braun and Rebecca Rigert performed "Duo," which demonstrated the romantic Lubovitch's knack for choreographing duets. Rigert floated around Braun like Saturn's rings, soft-pedaling her slippered feet and wafting to earth. "Combo" completed the work, featuring three snappy sections of varied tone and tempo. Lubovitch, no stranger to Broadway, slipped some jazzy moves into his plush lyricism. But an inconsistency of gaze arose as jazz dancers often make a direct connection with the audience, and the choreographer more frequently opts for a nonspecific modern dance focus. The dancers wavered between the two.

Men's Stories, for nine men in black velvet cutaway coats by Hould-Ward, has become a signature work for Lubovitch, and rightly so. This dark, haunting vision condenses several qualities-athleticism; fluidity and femininity; the closed-door clubbiness of a guild-into a delirious pageant of virtuosity. Scott Rink currently sets the standard for Lubovitch interpreters. Energy pulses through his long limbs, finally releasing into infinity, and he has an openness to his sternum that's vital to this heart-baring style. He also strikes an ideal balance between maturity--not age, but life experience-and technical brilliance, both keys to Lubovitch's art. See www.lubovitch.org.