NEW CASTS, NEW MOODS IN BEJART BALLET PROGRAMS

Beyond all the bare skin, the flamboyant technique and ponderous (sometimes undanceable) philosophical premises, Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the 20th Century is remarkable for its concentration on states of feeling.

Even Bejart’s showpieces are inevitably seeking something deeper than mere display and the best performances by his principals harness technique to emotion with a power and individuality increasingly rare in contemporary ballet.

Cast changes in major roles can thus greatly alter the mood, impact and even meaning of a ballet. Consider the dancers appearing over the weekend in Royce Hall, UCLA, as the eternal woman of “Le Marteau sans Maitre.”

Lynne Charles (Wednesday) had remained enigmatic--never revealing whether she was the boss or pawn of those mysterious hooded figures in black. But both Katarzyna Gdaniec (Friday) and Nathalie Carratie (Saturday) made the role into a controlling queen bee. The ballet consequently became less a mysterious mating ritual than a cautionary fable.

Where Gdaniec concentrated on icy articulation of the movement, Carratie capitalized on parodistic vamp-sauciness. Each danced strongly, managing to cope with less secure partnering (from Serge Campardon and Rouben Bach) than Charles had enjoyed (from Philippe Lizon and Marc Hwang).

Even more striking: the difference Florence Faure and Tony Fabre made in “Ce que l’Amour me Dit.” On Wednesday, Grazia Galante had given the lead woman’s role overtones of warmth and sadness that Faure banished from her implacable portrayal on Friday.

Indeed, with her slow, forceful extensions suggesting probes into deep space, Faure might have been the goddess Kali, breaking the dark fetters of this world for the suffering protagonist (Jorge Donn).

As the angel/savior, Fabre danced with a dignity and compassion missing from the sunnier, bouncier performance of Xavier Ferla in the first cast. Bejart’s vision of heaven suddenly seemed not just good, clean fun but genuinely joyous.