Catey Ott Dance Collective

Impulses that began in Catey Ott’s instep flowed through her sinuous legs and torso like electric currents Friday evening. They rippled through her snaking arms and were finally discharged with impertinent flicks of her fingers.

Ott is so strong and sure, so aware of her body, so centered in her balance and so calm of countenance. She is the sort of dancer who makes you feel a bit of what she feels in her body as she moves, especially up close and personal in the Danceworks Studio. That physical empathy is a great pleasure; Ott’s body is as taut, pliable and unified an instrument as you’ll see. Her ennobling expansiveness of limb — she blossoms out from folded positions to unexpected length — make you proud to be human.

Ott’s solo, well-matched with hypnotic music by Iva Bittova, opened her Total Emersion (that’s not a typo), a rambling conversation of a piece for her New York-based Catey Ott Dance Collective plus six local dancers.

The choreography had its ups and downs. Some bits were too literal — waggling fingers to a piano tremolo, for example. The melodrama in certain facial expressions put me off some. The hourlong piece did not really cohere or accumulate meaning, force or momentum. It was a series of unrelated occurrences, some more engaging than others, a randomly collected charm bracelet rather than a string of pearls arranged by size. The relentless high seriousness of it, too, began to weigh a little heavily by the 30-minute mark.

I like dances to have compelling architecture, and this one doesn’t. But it does have countless wonderful moments, plenty of surprises and superb dancers. Carmen Nicole, Molly Phelps, Jessica Louise Schultz and the spectacular Barbi Powers dance with full-bodied poise and great awareness of placement. Like Ott, they bring their feet to the floor just so, with precise measurement and weight and specific points of contact. Like Ott, they shape their bodies specifically. You can feel intent and clarity of thought behind everything they do, and that is a lovely thing.

Ott is an eccentric choreographer, not so much in steps and geometry as in her way of arranging events. Several numbers began, seemed to be going somewhere, then simply stopped. It’s as if Ott changed her mind about a dance but left in the fragment. I didn’t quite know what to make of this, and I’m still not sure if she was being cheeky or — what? — forgetful?

One happy eccentricity involved the six locals, all women in romantic white nightgowns (not skimpy; lots of wafting fabric). They flitted lightly to the sounds of Cesti’s Intorno all’idol mio, from a Baroque opera, sung gorgeously a cappella by Diana Yourke, who occasionally joined in the dancing. It seemed a little ridiculous at first, but the thing became heartbreakingly innocent as it went on. One of the dancers was the impossibly delicate little Kayla Weeks, every bit as poised and in the moment as her elders. Watching them dance was like watching the play of angels.

The Danceworks Studio is at 1661 N. Water St. Friday night’s show was packed; reservations are recommended. Call Danceworks, 414-277-8480 ext. 6025. Tickets are $15 and $25.