Parsons Troupe’s Work Proves a Bit Thin

David Parsons seems to have it all: looks, rhythm, an Olympian body ripe for Versace ads and all sorts of moves. What he lacks, unfortunately, is hard-core choreographic depth and the ability to create authentic lasting impressions.

His troupe, the Parsons Dance Company, strutted precise and terribly pretty stuff at the Pepperdine University Center for the Arts on Saturday, delivering the quintessential Parsonian package. The wildly cheering crowd, needless to say, lapped it up with relish.

Bookended by two similarly urban-oriented works, “Scrutiny” and “Mood Swing,” the nine-member company displayed slithery maneuvers, muscular leaps and frenetic arm gestures, all coated in a patina of cool.

The former work suffered from Michael Raye’s droning Muzak and inability to break out of sturm-drang mode. The latter piece, with a sassy, neo-Broadway score by Morton Gould, provided a narrative replete with habitues of the night--loners, chortling chorines--and a syncopated push-shove macho spat.

Robert Battle did what he could with “The Almighty,” an homage to the dollar. This yuppified piece, in which phones and paper money proliferated, failed to make use of the dancer’s quicksilver turns and elegant grace.

“Touched by Time’s” Stravinsky-esque score by John Corigliano evoked a “first you crawl, then you walk simian-like . . . then you dance” evolutionary thing. Elizabeth Koeppen upped the primal ante with mysterious twitchings and one-legged postures, while variegated group configurations surrounded her.

“Sleep Study” proved a call to insomniacs as the pajama-clad dancers’ horizontal meanderings elicited comic relief. The evening’s overall tone, however, was more of a theme--polished entertainment--without many memorable variations.

* The Parsons Dance Company performs Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. $25-$30. (714) 740-7878.

Helios, Blue Palm: Energetic, Uneven

High energy but decidedly lower inspiration ruled at Occidental College on Friday when two locally based groups, Helios Dance Theater and Blue Palm, shared a program of old and new works.

“Long Gone,” a premiere danced by Diana Mehoudar and choreographed by Helios founder Laura Gorenstein, kick-started the evening agilely. Mehoudar, a pre-Raphaelite-like beauty, worked dancerly wiles to a Joe Cocker tune, on and around a wrought iron bed. This enticing prop played unwitting partner to Mehoudar, whose stylized bends, whipping arms and quirky headstands provided breezy access to a quasi-meditation on loneliness.

“Woven,” another Helios premiere, featured a trio (Tasha Craig, Lynne Demarco and Mehoudar) joined at the heads by Medusan velvet ropes. Appearing at times like a Diane Arbus photo (triplets as freaks), this oddball work failed to plumb any depths, choosing instead to feature sculptural posing, floor rolling and athleticized circlings to Rob Cairns’ synthetic music.

The ultra-adorable husband-wife team Blue Palm--former Bejart dancers Tom Crocker and Jackie Planeix--has been honing its rap-scat skills more than its terpsichorean ones lately. Visually appealing in tutus, tights and mortar boards, the whimsical duo, known for verbally riffing on the bane of being dancers, did so again in “Dance Alphabet.”

In excerpts from “Sensual Intelligence,” Crocker played a mean African thumb piano while raconteur Planeix regaled with the saga of a Sri Lankan gorilla erection. No doubt this is cool theater, but a bit more dance would have been welcomed.

Previously reviewed works completed the fluff-and-frills program.