When done right, dance is visceral.

The movement of the performers causes a physical reaction on the viewers. Last Wednesday, the reaction from the audience was pure exuberance. Complexions Contemporary Ballet assaulted Portland with a spirit-lifting program that showcased the power of the human form.

Complexions is a uniquely American company - Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, the artistic directors, both came from Alvin Ailey's company, and it shows in the company's physicality and technical excellence.

Mercy was the first piece on the program. The movement started slow and sinewy, with long sections of unison movement from a dozen dancers. Undulating music and moody, hazed yellow lighting gave the impression of a trance-like state in the catacombs underneath a church. As the piece progressed, the movement became more violent, more willful. Rhoden's intention was to "provide a context for real images of pleading, forgiveness, indignation, grace and pity." With that bill, it would be difficult for anyone to completely forgo religious iconography, but it was used with subtlety. Pleading women wrapped around men, then threw themselves off, as if they were newly baptized and looking for absolution. The music ranged from Mendelssohn, to the Blind Boys of Alabama, to Hans Zimmer, but even within the eclectic mix, God and church was ever present.

After intermission, the company got a chance to really strut their stuff. Complexions is a large company (they brought 15 dancers to Portland, and Richardson performed on stage also). Seeing them as a group in Mercy gave a sense of scale and power, but the second act was devoted to the individual talents of each performer. The company performed a series of shorter pieces, with just a few dancers - from a solo piece to a quintet.

Gone was pure macho soul. Three men looked to be working on a chain gang, then testifying. The rhythm started in their feet, then rolled and roiled up through their legs, their hips, their torso, and finally exploded out through their arms and heads.  Each had several showcase solos, and the technical capabilities of these dancers was impressive - with one leg planted firmly on the ground, they extended the other toward the sky, while still maintaining fluid, expressive shoulders and arms. It was a series of dares, or the classic game of one-upsmanship. Each performer flew and spun more outlandishly than the last. And the finish was rousing and joyous.

Momentary Forevers was like a pas de deux between Alice and The Mad Hatter. We went through the looking glass, and what we found on the other side was a quirky, contemporary play on the traditional balletic duo.  The male role was alternately a bullfighter, then a maypole for the female to writhe around. Couplings were unexpected - he would hold her foot instead of her hand, and turn her thusly. But, even so, the decorum and formality of the traditional ballet were on display. Even when she was winging her way out from behind him, peeking and surprising, the roles were still clearly defined, and the language of the pas de deux remained intact.

Moody Booty Blues shows the company's Ailey roots, and the audience is the better for seeing them. We're in a bluesy honky tonk bar, where three jeans-clad guys strut their stuff to impress the ladies. They belly up to the bar, and they pop their booties out to attract the women just like male peacocks. It's a dance we've seen through the smoky haze a thousand times, in tiny speakeasies all across this country. The women respond in kind, slinking and sexy in bright red dresses. It's all hot sensuality and bold lines as each man takes his turn impressing one or the other of the women. They couple, then decouple, then preen, then come back together again. But, it's not sordid or sultry - it's exuberant. As if everyone had just finished a long week of 9-to-5, and it's Friday night with a freshly-cashed paycheck waiting for the weekend ahead.  This is where we understand why Complexions was featured on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" - it's art of the highest caliber, both in choreography and performance; but it's also accessible to everyone, whether it's your first dance performance or your hundredth.

Moonlight is Desmond Richardson's solo piece on the bill. Richardson is one of the most formidable dancers in contemporary modern dance in the last 30 years, and to see him perform is a joy. Having crossed the threshold into his forties, he's not bounding across the stage as he once did. Moonlight is one man, one chair, and one bouquet of flowers. But, it's enough to hold your attention rapt. Age works in Richardson's favor, as does the choreography. He is subtle, nuanced. He is mature. Yet, his limbs extend past the spotlight, and escape into the darkness. He's so long and lean, and challenges you with that leg vertical in the air, then he's upside down, then in the splits. You know there is a coiled spring inside of him that is held in reserve, but released when the moment is right. The chair is flung backward; the flowers come out. And, whatever this guy is asking for, you give it to him.

The final piece on the program is RISE, an ambitious all-company piece set to music by U2. Rise was created in 2008, when the fashion of using rock scores for ballets was already in full swing. The Joffrey Ballet broke ground in the mid-1990s with Billboards, which used Prince's music, and the progression continued into the aughts. Mamma Mia! took the trend to Broadway; Twyla Tharp finally achieved success on the Great White Way with Movin' Out, a musical set to the songs of Billy Joel. Since then, there has been a flood of interest in using pop music in theater and dance - Jersey Boys, and Tharp's ill-fated Like a Rolling Stone, Lennon, All Shook Up, Good Vibrations, and We Will Rock You.

From this standpoint, it seems that the concept may be a bit tired; it's all been done before. And, the themes of the piece are fairly straightforward - love, community, and physicality. But, let's be honest - everything has been done before; and that doesn't detract from the sheer joy and energy that the company brings to the stage. Using the rhythmic pulsing of "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the soaring crescendos of "Beautiful Day," the company brings the piece home with the audience on their feet and clapping in time with the music. A fitting end to a vibrant evening.

Jamie has been involved in the dance world for more than a decade. He previously worked at Jacob's Pillow Damce Festival and currently advises them on social computing. He also writes about technology, community and dance at www.jamiebeckland.com

Photos: White Bird/Chris Roesing