50-year span of McKayle’s artistry

Humble, gracious and supremely gifted, choreographer Donald McKayle, at age 73, can still scorch the stage with his vision. It was a shame, then, that Lula Washington Dance Theatre had to cancel a tribute to McKayle set for Friday night at Cal State L.A.’s Luckman Theatre because of poor ticket sales. Those attending Saturday’s stunning three-part program, which spanned more than 50 years, saw artistry that not only stands the test of time but was also superbly danced.

A modern dance pioneer, McKayle in the 1950s had his own company, whose roster included Alvin Ailey. Since then, McKayle, who currently teaches at UC Irvine, has conquered Broadway (he won a Tony Award for “Raisin”) and films and has choreographed more than 70 works for troupes around the world. Washington’s company is currently one of six repositories for his pieces.

Kicking off the ebullient program was the 20-minute dance theater classic “Games.” Choreographed in 1951, it was McKayle’s first full-scale work, bringing to life urban childhood in three uninterrupted scenes: “Play,” “Hunger” and “Terror.” Performing to the gutsy a cappella singing of Forrest Gardner and Tamica Washington-Miller, seven dancers, reveling in the joy of movement, also had rocking street credibility.

The upbeat opening -- feathery jumps and dipping in unison to a lullaby -- seamlessly segued into a hunched-over, cotton-picking mode. Long legs splayed and akimbo arms managed to bloom, however, until the finale, when fear turned into brutality and Chickee (Nicole Smith) was left dangling like a limp rag doll.

Flash-forward to 1972 and McKayle’s masterpiece, “Songs of the Disinherited,” set to gospel and pop tunes. April Thomas Wilkins, Robert Mulrey and Eliezer Rabello soared in “I’m on My Way.” The men, falling to their knees with outstretched arms, were a study in virtuosity. So were Bernard Brown and Demar Braxton, whose leaps in “Upon the Mountain” seemed helium-assisted. Smith brought power and grace to her lunges and balancing poses in “Angelitos Negros,” with Roberta Flack’s soulful vocals accompanying. The entire troupe whooped it up in “Shaker Life” -- 12 dancers shimmying and whirling like dervishes.

The revised “Death and Eros,” based on an Inuit legend and originally made on the Washington company in 2000, again proved fertile territory, this time for an indefatigable Smith as Woman Reborn and an exceptionally agile Braxton as the Fisherman, who finds love in a storm-tossed sea.