Gallim Dance (White Bird Uncaged)

Moving swiftly between primal and elegant, Gallim Dance's Blush is a stirring exploration of human touch and interaction. The young New York dance company made its West Coast debut Thursday evening to commence the new season of White Bird Uncaged, now back at home in PSU's Lincoln Hall.

Choreographed by Gallim's artistic director Andrea Miller, much of Blush is powerfully abstract, with the push and pull of intense intertwining and struggling bodies contrasting starkly with dramatic silence, stillness, and isolation. In a smoky haze, three white-painted bodies shift slowly, eerily machine-like, as half-naked figures crawl through the background. The figures rise, arms outstretched to the audience, then suddenly reverse as if put on rewind.

Blush's music is its own unique blend of contrasts. Finger-picked melodies set to tranquil drum beats transition to classical arrangements and then to pulsing electronica. Then silence, bodies thumping as they fall to the floor in unison. Finally, Wolf Parade's "I'll Believe In Anything" blasts through the air as a lone, convulsing figure is joined by her fellow dancers and they rush into a blur of triumphant energy, bringing the performance to a dramatic climax.

Lincoln Hall, Portland State University, 1620 SW Park Ave., 242-1419. 8 pm Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 14-16. $18-$28.