By Rita Felciano

CHITRESH DAS HAD an idea: bring Kathakali (south Indian) and Balinese Legong together with his own north Indian Kathak dancing. The resulting two-part program, "East as Center," is enchanting, entertaining, and ambitious – it illustrates the commonality and differences among three classical performance styles.

The title "East as Center," a rather involved program note explained, "refers to shifting from a Western perspective to facilitate an understanding of the 'Eastern' context of these art forms and the aesthetic, technique and artistic emphasis at their center." Fair enough, if this means these styles need to be looked at in their own context. But more intriguingly, what this program beautifully demonstrated is that rigor, refinement, and a tendency toward abstraction are hallmarks of classicism wherever it is found.

Das developed "East as Center" during his yearlong residency at ODC/San Francisco; it is scheduled to tour the country beginning next year. Accompanied by guest musicians from India and members of Gamelan Sekar Jaya, the master dancers, each paired with pupils, introduced themselves individually; after intermission they returned in a dance drama, Seeta Apaharan, which is rooted in their common Hindu mythology as written down in the Ramayana.

Ni Ketut Arini and Kompiang Metri Davies, accompanied by Wayne Vitale on the Gender Rambat, danced an exquisite version of Legong. Pure dance elements eventually gave way to a more narrative thrust. Gliding figure-eight progressions, swaying and undulating torso movement, and delicately articulated finger movement responded to the rhythms of the metallophone. At first the dancers shadowed each other, but they broke into individual paths, and Davies, as the princess lost in the forest, was increasingly besieged by Arini as the domineering king.

Kathakali is best known for its spectacular costumes and fearsome masks and makeup. That's why the performances by P. Govindan Kutty and his pupil Surajit Sarkar were such a surprise. Dressed simply and accompanied by a single drummer (K.P. Gopakumar), the dancers focused completely on the body in motion, emphasizing large-scale projection even as Kathakali's hand-and-eye gestural language remained detailed and refined. One could see how Sarkar's elastic wide leaps and precisely delivered kicks would be complemented by the layers of costumes that are traditionally part of this style. As slender as a reed and as straight as a rod, the 74-year-old Kutty danced with elegant simplicity, conjuring up swimming fish, flying birds, and blossoming flowers from mudras (codified hand gestures).

But it was Das himself who stole the show. Not quite as secure in his swiveling pirouettes as he used to be, he got the intricacies of Kathak's ever shifting counts, bringing across the abrupt stops and starts with great flair, the slapping sound of his feet punctuating the shimmering twinkle of ankle bells.

For Seeta Apaharan, Das wisely forwent any attempt at fusing the three dance styles, though their commonalities – the wide open pliés, the emphasis on eye and hand gestures, the vertical and open torso – surely must have made it tempting. Instead he took advantage of each of his dancers' specific gifts, extracting one of the Ramayana's best-known incidents, in which Surpanakha (Jaiwanti Pamnani), sister of the demon king Ravana (Das), plans revenge after she gets rejected by both Ram (Sarkar) and his brother Lakshamn (Charlotte Moraga). Kutty played Ravana's horrified uncle Maricha; a febrile Farah Yasmeen Shaikh danced his incarnation as the golden deer. Arini, the dignified Vulture King, tried to save Sita (Davies) but was defeated when his wings got cut off, though in dying he grew back golden ones.

It may not have been necessary, since dancing so clearly told the story, but discrete live narration and commentary by Pratibha Patel made "East as Center" even more gratifying. Thanks to Matthew Ankay's brilliant lighting and set design (five white diamond shapes on the floor, and hanging panels that added depth), ODC Theater's utilitarian space was transformed into a magic kingdom whose inhabitants fought ancient battles about jealousy, faithfulness, courage, and dedication.