Two Troupes Study Contrast

This week at Strathmore, body and soul, earth and spirit, art and politics intertwine when two distinctive companies -- one contemporary, one traditional -- present new choreography that melds these yin-and-yang natures. The acclaimed Washington-based CityDance Ensemble takes on environmental issues in a program titled "Carbon," while India's Nrityagram Dance Ensemble mines spiritual paths in its own evening called "Pratima: Reflection."

The CityDance program includes the piece "Thirst," by choreographer-in-residence Christopher K. Morgan, which parses what it means to be thirsty, physically, metaphorically and spiritually. Another work, "The Mountain," by Filipino choreographer Jason Garcia Ignacio, uses volcano sonification, creating a musical score from the sound waves emitted by the seismic activity of volcanoes, among them Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

"When Jason started to look at the questions of climate, environment, change and its challenges, instead of taking a Western approach, he went back to his traditional roots," says CityDance artistic director Paul Gordon Emerson.

The piece, which is grounded in Filipino folk dance, pushes the CityDance dancers into unfamiliar territory. But Emerson speaks approvingly of the effort: "I find it gratifying that Jason, who came to this country on a gifted-and-talented visa as a folk artist of Filipino culture, has begun to share that with a group of Western-trained dancers."

Later in the week, the unparalleled Nrityagram Dance Ensemble returns to the area with its work "Pratima: Reflection." The tightknit ensemble is made up of women who live, study and work in a small village ashram in southern India, where they dedicate themselves to the preservation of the ancient temple dance form Odissi.

"The production starts with the concept of creation and destruction . . . where we come from and where we're going," says artistic director Surupa Sen. The Odissi form, born more than 2,000 years ago in the northeastern Indian state of Orissa, echoes the postures of ancient Hindu temple sculptures: women in sensuous poses, hips thrust to one side, rib cages to the other.

The dancers use an intricate sign language (hastas) that provides a narrative throughout the six sections of the work. Sen says she explains the hand gestures before the start of each dance to help audiences understand the work's meaning.

"Pratima," too, is deeply connected to the environment on an elemental level. It concerns the stuff of life, the creative forces of the Hindu gods and the universal mysteries of creation.

"I was interested in the word pratima and what it meant," Sen says. "It had so many wonderful meanings in Sanskrit, our ancient language. In India when you say reflections it could mean contemplation, it could mean being born or made in the same image of . . . it could mean almost anything, so it gave me vast possibilities to explore."

CityDance Ensemble, Nrityagram Dance Ensemble Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. http://www.strathmore.org. CityDance: March 14-15. $20. Nrityagram Dance Ensemble: March 19. $12-$48.