Dance : Ballets Jazz de Montreal at Norris

Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal is an excellent example of the whole not living up to the sum of its parts.

The company has skilled dancers, name choreographers and professional production values. Yet for all that, its performances are curiously lifeless and often cloying, as an evening of works presented Friday and Saturday at the Norris Theatre in Palos Verdes made clear.

First and best on the bill was “Libertango,” a suite of tangos choreographed by Mauricio Wainrot to the music of Astor Piazzolla. With a hefty dose of authoritarian macho, the small group and trio dances emphasized precise partnering, intricate footwork and dramatic lunges.

Their technically proficient moves notwithstanding, though, the dancers seemed totally unconnected to one another, evoking about as much steamy passion as an Arthur Murray class.

“Ebony Concerto,” choreographer John Cranko’s divertissement for three clowns to music of Stravinsky, fared similarly, with the competent dancers frolicking through Twister-style gymnastics while falling short in expressiveness.

Also, the arguably ethnic reference of the piece’s title, along with the brightly colored “Afro” style wigs and the faux naif antics of these clowns, may give some folks pause. It certainly dates the work.

“Appearances,” a mock-strip dance for couples in evening wear choreographed by Lynne Taylor Corbett, suffered from a ‘70s shampoo commercial idea of what’s sexy and any number of predictable gestures and poses.

Completing the program was “Big Band,” choreographer Brian Macdonald’s hoppin’ and boppin’ tribute to the world of ponytailed girls in circle skirts and finger-snapping fellas. Clean as the couples’ timing and lifts may have been, there was once again precious little emotional interplay between the dancers.