Modern Steps Put Beauty on the Bill : Dance: David Parsons’ ‘Bachiana,’ a sheer celebration of his dancers, adds a balletic aspect to the troupe’s evening of varied emotional and musical repertory in Irvine.

In a post-modern art world with a muse of Angst and alienation, choreographer David Parsons takes a left turn with “Bachiana,” which his troupe will dance tonight at Irvine Barclay Theatre.

“Believe it or not, the piece is about beauty,” Parsons said recently. “It’s really just a celebration of my dancers. As a choreographer works with dancers, he or she gets to know their personalities, and I really used that. I paired them off in duets, and you can see their personalities stand out.”

Parsons, 34, formed his eight-member New York troupe in 1987 after spending nine years with Paul Taylor’s preeminent company. There, he bounded and soared his way to modern-dance star status aboard Taylor’s robust, airborne choreography.

Recently, he’s tried to create repertory that varies in emotional context, music and movement. “Bachiana” (1992), a work set to orchestral pieces by Bach that mines “a more balletic technique than we’ve ever used,” is no exception, Parsons said in a phone interview from his Manhattan home.

As a spectator, he said, he’s often felt that separate dances on mixed-bill programs are so similar that “you could pull out the intermission and have one long, single piece.”

Parsons will appear in “Bachiana,” which is receiving its Southern California premiere. The company’s appearance launches the Feet First Contemporary Dance Series, a presentation of the theater and UC Irvine Cultural Events with three troupes to follow through May.

“Improvisation,” which his troupe will also dance, isn’t new to the area--at least not literally. But, living up to its name, the work is redrawn from ground zero for every performance. The only rules? “One person at a time, then all four together,” Parsons said.

“The stage is bare, and we don’t even know (beforehand) who goes out first,” he said. The work’s musical accompaniment can be just as much a chameleon, he added, and it’s been variously played by jazz clarinetist Tony Scott, the drum squad of a marching band or a local guitarist the troupe happened to meet on the road.

Things can get “pretty hairy” during the piece, Parsons said. At one performance, a former company member, who threw caution to the wind in his quest to transcend choreographic constraint, “hit his face on the floor and split his brow.”

Still, even lacking that kind of dramatic action, the piece can be compelling, he said. “You can see the inner workings of a dancer’s mind.”

Over the years, Parsons has explored dark themes and weighty subjects. “Ring Around the Rosie,” a recently completed work, compares the 14th-Century Black Death plague to the AIDS epidemic.

The plan for Irvine, however, is lighter fare, which will also include “Caught,” a 1982 audience pleaser lit with a strobe light that makes its sole, leaping dancer seem never to touch the ground, and “Envelope,” a comic romp to sprightly Rossini excerpts.

Brazilian jazz composer Milton Nascimento wrote a score for the program’s final ensemble work, “Nascimento” (1990), which Parsons described as a rollicking “blow-out for the the dancers.”

“We were touring Brazil,” he said, “and we did eight nights at the opera house in Rio and Milton came backstage and asked if he could do a piece” for the company.

Despite the added responsibility that comes with running a company, Parsons, who has appeared as a guest artist with New York City Ballet, doesn’t miss being a rank-and-file dancer.

In addition to the artistic freedom to present the works he creates, he finds gratification from more practical matters: Parsons maintains a busy touring schedule for the troupe and is able to guarantee his dancers 35 to 40 weeks of work annually. That’s not so unusual; offering them full health benefits is, particularly among small modern-dance troupes.

“Getting dancers jobs in today’s economy,” he said, “is a challenge and a source of satisfaction.”

* The David Parsons Dance Company will perform at 8 p.m. tonight at Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. $25. (714) 854-4646 or (714) 740-2000.