The Joffrey Ballet.

The Joffrey Ballet Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL April 26-May 7, 2006

Throughout its history, the Joffrey Ballet has prided itself on its ability to move back and forth between the masterpieces of 20th century dance (from Petrouchka to The Green Table) and such new works as Robert Joffrey's Astarte (1967) and Twyla Tharp's Deuce Coupe (1973), which picked up on the pop vibes of the moment. So as one part of its ongoing, multifaceted S0th-anniversary season celebrations, the company devised a "Cool Vibrations" program. Featured were a revival of Tharp's breakthrough work from 1973, set to a slew of Beach Boys hits, along with Motown Suite, a newly commissioned piece by Donald Byrd (set to hits by The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, and others) and a revival of Laura Dean's "Sometimes It Snows in April" (from Billboards, the full-length 1993 work by several choreographers, all of whom used the music of Prince).

It should come as no surprise that today's ballet dancers can easily adapt to the sexier, pelvis-swinging moves and jagged partnering that just three decades ago seemed so foreign to them. And the Joffrey performed Deuce Coupe with total ease here, with the bravura Julianne Kepley as the leading freestyle girl and a pristine Heather Aagard ideal as a counterpointing figure, the little bunhead left out in the 1960s cold. But Tharp's ballet, once so groundbreaking, seems utterly tame after all these years, with a pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein now serving as backdrop instead of the live graffiti painters featured in the original production.

Byrd's piece, a series of relationship riffs that picked up on the Motown song lyrics, also was expertly danced. But the choreographer too often stuffed the music with so many steps and partnering tricks that the work grew tiresome, even if the music remained irresistible. The piece would benefit from some editing, and also would be far better served were it part of a more stylistically varied program.

It was Dean's propulsive dance to Prince that looked best here, with its complex geometry and surging momentum. Its knockout finale captured the full power of the Joffrey ensemble at its best. See www.joffrey.org.