VIEW.

Making its North American debut as the one dance participant in a festival of Hispanic theater in Arlington, Virginia, the National Ballet of Paraguay presented dance drama for its single performance on this continent (during a stopover after guesting in Taiwan). The work, Trocito Cielo ("A Little Bit of Heaven"), is described by choreographer Ramon Oller as "slices of life," yet it has continuity and a cumulative impact as we follow ten individuals from childhood games to the concerns that dog young adults. With the awakening of sex, anger, and solace, the groups dissolve into singles, pairs, and small clusters. When the characters, now grown up and stripped to skimpy underwear, depart, they abandon the stage, clamber over the seated audience, and head for the theater's exits, presumably scattering into the world.

Offer uses a broad spectrum of movement judiciously. He paces the most mundane gesture and places it deliberately in alignment with or opposition to the accompanying music and total stage picture. This varied material seems all of a piece due to a persistent staccato pulse set in motion by the music--Spanish guitar, played solo or to support songs.