By Joyce Nishioka

THE MALE TORSO is a beautiful thing, evoking both earthy sensuality and godliness. Witness Stephanie Gilliland's "Men's Trio," performed July 29 at the West Wave Dance Festival. The director of Los Angeles-based company Tongue, Gilliland has choreographed reflective dance works for more than 25 years. Her approach is stream of consciousness, and like the writers who forged this style, she seamlessly links disparate images into a continuous flow of ideas. In the case of "Men's Trio," an excerpt from Tongue's Tertium Quid, she found inspiration from a book on Sadhus, India's holy men, and a Sean John fashion show.

Passionately executed by Jay Bartley, Bradley Michaud, and Bryan Wallk, "Men's Trio" unfolded at a syrupy slow pace to Robert Een's hypnotic score. Throughout the piece, the dancers' torsos and shoulders rippled and slithered. They gazed upward as if guided by a divine light (gorgeously provided by Kristie Roldan) but ultimately were dragged down by rags loosely tied around their ankles.

The simple but flawlessly calculated passages – like when the men lightly treaded with their hands as their clothbound feet swept the ground – suggested ancient lessons in humility as much as they did exercises of self-indulgence. Just as they drew viewers deeper into this mystical world, the dancers removed the cloths from their ankles, unfolded them, and put them back on. These holy rags were sports jackets, it turned out. For the first time the men connected with the audience, staring straight at them and looking ready to hit the catwalk.

Under the direction of Joan Lazarus, Summerfest's West Wave Dance Festival occasionally unveils such gems and introduces local audiences to emerging choreographers. It also enables small and midsize troupes to rework pieces and try out new works without facing the cost of producing a show on their own.

Newcomer Heidi Schweiker's Of Checkered Breezes was another standout on the program. Schweiker is a member of Janice Garrett and Dancers, and her work is clearly imprinted with Garrett's exuberant style and musicality. Of Checkered Breezes was described as an exploration of "willful individuality and inevitability," but it hinted at ideas about relationships, community, and our interconnectedness. The dancers reacted to one another like martial artists while managing a lush fusion of classical and modern dance. Each movement – something as gentle as a touch on the waist or as palpable as a nimble fall to the ground – instigated the next, so the entire piece flowed with an organic sweep.

Similarly lovely was Garrett's Quaternion. Garrett, a former member of Dan Wagoner and Dancers, has taught and performed with leading European modern dance groups, such as DV8 Physical Theatre and London Contemporary Dance Theatre. Two years ago she formed Janice Garrett and Dancers, a favorite among local critics and a company that was named as one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch." She now can be counted as a generous mentor, as well, to Schweiker, a veritable new force in San Francisco's modern dance scene.

Quaternion was masterful in its intricate phrases and musicality, but it fell somewhat short in terms of emotional impact. The ensemble piece broke off into solos and duets executed at a frenetic pace by Julian De Leon, Nol Simonse, Heather Tietsort-Lasky, and Schweiker, who are all compelling artists as well as skillful technicians. The group ripped through complex passages with exactitude and balletic grace. But while the piece was exciting to watch, once it was over, it offered little afterthought and fewer afterimages. Perhaps, though, that's the ultimate nature of living art.

The program closed with Nancy Karp's revision of her 2003 La traversa, an abstraction of Sicily's vibrant street life, and Jodi Lomask's "Mantle" and "Breaking Out," two excerpts from her full-length Digging in the Dark. While Karp's nonchalant style and the dancers' blank stares made her piece seem a bit old-fashioned if not pretentious, Lomask's choreography, which borrowed heavily from capoeira, could have used some taming.

Lomask is the director of Capacitor, a seven-year-old dance group that integrates circus arts, acrobatics, and martial arts into its movement vocabulary. "Mantle" was interesting enough, featuring a video backdrop that mirrored the dancers. The seven-member ensemble indeed seemed to be "digging in the dark" as they explored some unknown territory, fighting off what they couldn't see. But "Breaking Out" abruptly switched gears as the dancers regrouped and burst into a faux-tribal dance complete with lighted torches they used for juggling. Dancers smiled as they stepped and kicked in unison. In this case, the afterimage was strong but unsettling.