An Encore of the Light Fantastic : Dance: Dayton troupe, known for presenting modern classics and newer works by black choreographers, will have samples of both on hand when the company appears tonight at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

It was like brain drain--except with feet.

In one year, more than half a dozen dancers left the community troupe that Jeraldyne Blunden operated through her inner-city dance school in Dayton, Ohio. They defected for jobs with professional companies.

Undaunted, Blunden formed a professional company of her own.

“I thought maybe we should try to do something about keeping the dancers at home,” she recalled recently.

Today, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company is nearly a quarter-century old. It is a leading American modern-dance troupe known nationally for presenting modern-dance classics as well as newer works by black choreographers.

The troupe will perform some of both at Irvine Barclay Theatre tonight, returning to Southern California after two acclaimed visits in recent seasons.

The program includes UC Irvine dance professor Donald McKayle’s 1959 classic, “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder,” which depicts the dreams and despair of men on a chain gang.

Such dances “represent our African-American history, our culture, a sharing of ideas that everybody should know about,” Blunden said in a recent phone interview from Dayton.

“Everybody does ‘Nutcracker’ and ‘Swan Lake,’ ” she continued. Myriad “companies do Mr. (George) Balanchine’s work. There should be just as many companies doing McKayle or (Talley) Beatty.”

Dayton Contemporary does Beatty, including his “Mourner’s Bench” from 1947. Here, they’ll perform “The Stack Up,” a Beatty piece premiered by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in 1982.

“Talley is a great observer of humans,” Blunden said. “He reads your body language. ‘Stack Up’ has (a sub-plot) about drugs, but it’s mostly about different kinds of people and how they relate to each other.”

Blunden was able to start adding classic works to the company’s repertory early on because she had developed friendships with choreographers, who were happy to grant permission.

More recently, her 16-member troupe enjoyed something of a choreographic windfall, thanks to a project created in 1987 by the American Dance Festival, an event held annually in Durham, N.C.

Aimed at reviving and preserving works of prominent black modern-dance choreographers--especially those without their own troupes--”The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance” placed the works in the active repertories of companies chosen by each choreographer.

Long before the project was launched, Blunden’s troupe began performing dances by project participants, she said. They included McKayle’s “Games,” and Beatty’s “Road of the Phoebe Snow.” So it was natural that “we were one of the companies selected to get their work” and those of others.

“I think we really lucked out on the project,” she said. “There have been other companies involved . . . but I think we received seven ballets over the past six years, which is very good.”

McKayle, who gave the troupe “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” through the project, thinks it was more than just luck.

“Jeraldyne is a really forward-thinking woman who had this idea (of preservation) in her mind long before it got this kind of formal support,” he said.

Additionally, the troupe has been a training ground for “excellent dancers,” McKayle said, such as Donna Wood, now retired from dancing. She took over roles performed by Judith Jamison, the Ailey company’s most famous performer, once Jamison stopped dancing.

Showcasing newer work has always been critical to Blunden, too. Her repertory features such contemporary choreographers as Ulysses Dove and Donald Byrd. Bebe Miller, whose troupe appeared at the Irvine theater earlier this season, is scheduled to create a new solo for the company within the month, Blunden said.

Tuesday’s program also includes “Love and the Weather,” a tribute to Motown by Kevin Ward, the troupe’s resident choreographer.

“There’s always going to be young talent coming up,” Blunden said, “and it’s important they be seen and be recognized now, so that 30 years from now, someone can deem their work ‘classic.’ ”

In some ways, Blunden has achieved more than she dreamed she would.

“I don’t think I ever thought we’d dance in Russia or Korea,” where the troupe toured under another American Dance Festival project.

Nonetheless, she hungers for more.

“There are still works I’d like to attain, there are still venues I’d like to dance in, and there are still levels of artistry I’d like to reach.”

Money is another problem.

“I’d like to be able to pay (dancers) enough so that they all feel comfortable raising and supporting a family.”

Although the company receives local, state and federal support, it’s never been enough, she said.

“I think the American people need to know that even heartfelt things have to be paid for. This is not something we (prepare) in our basements on the weekend, then perform in halls the next weekend. These are vocations, these are lifelong careers, and (Americans) have to be willing to put money into the arts.”

She has no intention of abandoning her efforts, however.

“I’m doing this because I like to do it, I thinks it’s important to do,” she said. With a laugh, she added: “Plus, I don’t know anything else.”

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company performs Tuesday, March 2 at 8 p.m. at Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. The program, with works by Donald McKayle, Talley Beatty, George Faison and Kevin Ward , is part of the theater’s Feet First Contemporary Dance Series, sponsored in conjunction UC Irvine Cultural Events. “African-American Perspectives in Modern Dance,” a panel lecture presented by the American Dance Festival, beings at 7 p.m. $22 to $28. (714) 854-4646.