BALLETS ON THE HUMAN CONDITION

Oakland Ballet, nationally known for its vital reconstructions of 20th-Century dance classics, will restage two major works--and introduce choreography by one of the most highly respected dancers from the Bay area--in programs todayand Thursday at UC Irvine.

The reconstructions are Kurt Jooss’ 1932 anti-war ballet “The Green Table” and modern dance pioneer Charles Weidman’s 1936 “Lynchtown.” New for local audiences is Betsy Erickson’s “At a Time When . . . “ choreographed in 1984 by the former American Ballet Theatre soloist and San Francisco Ballet principal dancer. Erickson has been ballet mistress of the Oakland company since 1982. Both programs will be at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Village Theater on the college campus.

In discussing the philosophy behind programming, artistic director Ronn Guidi said Oakland Ballet’s goal is “to preserve and maintain masterpieces of dance that might be neglected and hopefully create history by encouraging young choreographers. I hope that doesn’t sound too pompous.”

Actually, the 22-member company, now beginning its 21st season, for a long time was best known as a “feeder” company giving talented dancers training and experience, only to see them graduate to larger, more illustrious--and better-paying--companies.

These graduates have included David McNaugton and Kyra Nichols of New York City Ballet, Judy Tyrus of Dance Theatre of Harlem, David Roland of Berlin Ballet and John Sullivan of Stuttgart Ballet.

But since reviving Bronislava Nijinska’s “Les Noces” in 1981 and taking it to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., a year later, the company has earned an international reputation, and the outward flow of talent slowed to a trickle, according to Guidi.

All along, however, Guidi has sought to emphasize a dance heritage with more than a history-book meaning.

Jooss’ “The Green Table,” appearing on today’s bill, remains a “monumental piece of choreography” despite its 1930s origins, said Guidi. “It isn’t dated at all.”

“The impulse for the work occurred when the Gestapo told Jooss to ‘resolve the Jewish question,’--that is, to fire Jewish dancers in his company. Of course, (Jooss) refused and fled Germany one day before the Gestapo tried to get him.”

The ballet (set to music by Fritz Cohen) takes “a hard look at the amorality of war and its effect on all people,” Guidi said. “It’s ironic. In Europe, the green table is a place where people come together to discuss an issue and arrive at a rational conclusion; but, instead, quite often the result is war. That’s how the ballet begins.”

Largely allegorical, the work features the character of Death--or the War Machine--as its key figure, according to Guidi.

“The figure of death is incredible because it takes each person as he lived.”

“I don’t find the piece depressing at all, however,” Guidi said. “I find it illuminating because it talks about the human condition, although sometimes about what people don’t want to talk about--like the profiteering that goes on in wartime.”

Unlike performances of “The Green Table,” local audiences rarely see productions of works by Charles Weidman, Guidi said.

“That’s because only about four of (Weidman’s) works are left,” Guidi explained.

Weidman, who died in New York in 1975 at age 73, was well known for his strong sense of pantomime and drama and for his famous collaboration with Doris Humphrey, with whom he formed a company from 1927 until she retired from dancing in 1945 because of severe arthritis.

“Lynchtown”--one of several works on Thursday’s program--was the third piece in a larger suite called “Atavisms,” Guidi said. “But it’s the only one that is extant. The rest are lost.”

The dance (set to music by Lehman Engel) is based on a lynching that the young Weidman saw while growing up in Lincoln, Neb., according to Guidi.

The audience never sees an actual hanging in the ballet; that is just suggested by a light slanting across the stage from the wings. “You sense that the body is hanging there,” Guidi said. “People come out and react to the body. They get caught up in the violence. In eight minutes, you’re taken away to a different world.”

Weidman’s contribution to modern dance--taking dance into the realm of theater--is “just beginning to be rediscovered and appreciated,” according to Guidi.

“It’s hard for audiences to see, and we may pay a certain price in (losing) audiences. But I just figured I’d take the risk. I feel audiences should see it.”

Erickson, who created two other works for the company, choreographed “At a Time When . . . “ in 1984. The ballet is a stark work that deals with primitive tribal rites, according to Guidi.

“You see two tribes meet in a rocky environment--you can think of Stonehenge,” he said. “They exchange children to continue the process of the human species, and a mantle of some sort of authority is passed on when they leave the area. One member is left behind.

“There’s a buildup of tension and emotion. Relationships are hinted at, and you’re left to decide what will happen.”

A native of Oakland, Erickson was well known for her refined dancing during her years with with American Ballet Theatre (1967--1972) and with the San Francisco Ballet (from 1972 until her retirement from dance in 1984).

According to Guidi, Erickson “makes her statements very subtly, but they always happen. Her works can be very sensuous in a very intellectual way.”

The way Guidi tells it, other works on the programs promise to be less gut-wrenching and serious. Today’s offering will include Guidi’s “Gallops and Kisses” and Carlos Carvajal’s “Synergies.” Thursday, there will be Marc Wilde’s “Bolero” and two works by Guidi, “Trois Gymnopedies” and selections from “The Seasons.”

“I try to build balanced programs,” Guidi said. “ ‘Bolero,’ for instance, is rather cheeky, and ‘Gymnopedies’ is almost like an extended adagio.

“But I admit I’ve always had a penchant for choreography that talked about the human condition.”