Dayton troupe puts all the elements together

Dance, one of the most ephemeral of art forms, can often be called upon to bolster the soul. Indeed, watching the human body pushed to its limits in service of creating beauty and meaning not only offers respite from despair, but is a reminder that God is in the details: the swoosh of an arm, an arched back, a sensuous sway of the hip.

Such was the case on Friday when Dayton Contemporary Dance Company soared in a physically demanding five-part program at Cerritos Center, one offering a hyper-energized, rapturous portrait of indefatigable will -- and grace.

Founded in 1968 in Dayton, Ohio, by Jeraldyne Blunden, the company, whose African American heritage blends a kaleidoscope of styles that includes ballet, jazz, modern dance and hip-hop, has been helmed by Kevin Ward since Blunden’s death in 1999.

Ward’s ebullient “Sets and Chasers,” choreographed that year, opened the program. Set to a 1940 Duke Ellington recording made at a North Dakota ballroom, 10 loose-limbed dancers in street clothes affectionately grooved, bopped, smooched, spun and kicked in this nod to a bygone era, spreading joy on stage like butter on a bun.

Giving heft to Bebe Miller’s 1993 “Things I’ve Not Forgotten,” was the vivacious Sheri “Sparkle” Williams, a 32-year company veteran with endless reservoirs of technique. Accompanied by Fred Firth’s superior guitar twanging (on tape), Williams, a tableau of deep plies, intense arm work and Jello-y body quiverings, gave rise to emotions rooted in collective memories as a female trio -- Queala Clancy, Crystal Michelle and Nabachwa Ssensalo -- conjured the three graces in bouncing, bending and balancing poses.

Adding to the kinetic collage and providing some male heat was a potent Julius Brewster-Cotton.

Another indelible presence was G.D. Harris, whose elongated body sported the feathery trappings of a bird in Asadata Dafora’s 1932 choreography, “Awassa Astrige/Ostrich.” With his huge arm span and ornithologically bent furtive head moves, Harris dazzled in this short solo, occasionally recalling Josephine Baker in an outrageous execution of poised perfection.

Blunden’s daughter, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, weighed in with her three-part “Traffic.” Set to a frenetically percussive score by Kodo, the 2003 work featured 11 dancers marching on and off stage in neo-tribal mode, offering hand signals, whipping turns and a nonstop procession of lifts, dips and twisting torsos.

Staggeringly precise, with no collisions, gridlock or missteps amid continually changing line formations, there was a sense of drama even in walking. Juiced, the company attacked neo-arabesques and slinky spooning with a road-rage ferocity. If only the 405 Freeway looked this good.

Completing the program was the previously reviewed work “Children of the Passage,” Donald McKayle and Ronald K. Brown’s 1999 homage to New Orleans.

Set to the funk sounds of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the ritual moves made palpable an unsinkable spirit where revelry meets mourning meets an attitude of triumph over adversity -- and with Hurricane Katrina now a spectral presence onstage.