Music and Dance : Perez, Martinez at Occidental College

Local choreographers Rudy Perez and Francisco Martinez first shared a program in January when they appeared on the Dance Gallery’s “In the Works” series. At that time Perez’s Postmodern company presented “One + 2 Plus 1 = Mischief” and Martinez’s ballet-based ensemble offered “Places”--works seen again during a stimulating evening Saturday in Keck Theater, Occidental College.

Since January, Martinez’s elegiac sextet has gained great urgency--and it was always notable for inventively objectifying the dancers’ patterns of emotional contact and isolation through arrangements of chairs. In the same nine months, Perez’s sly quartet has grown sharper in its tactile gamesmanship: the way that dancers touching themselves on the shoulder, knee or waist define the physical focus of the lifts and turns that will occur later on.

Perez’s new “Circadian Circle” proved equally clever in formal design. From the gauzy floor-length skirts encircling the dancers to their tight turns and jogging loops around the stage, the Big 0 ruled this surging geometry-is-destiny quintet.

Sometimes Perez even seemed to parody his fixation on circular paths--as when company newcomer Michelle Bitting raced to close an invisible circle around Robert Keane before he could escape from it. Keane also supplied the sweet, lighthearted score.

Martinez’s “Azulada” used music by Grieg to accompany a fluent classical showpiece far too technically demanding for most of his hard-working and intense nine-member cast.

The emphasis on fast, intricate unison dancing exposed everything from individual incapacities and inexperience to lack of stylistic unanimity. This kind of choreography builds an ensemble, but right now it belongs in the rehearsal studio.