BY DANA OLAND

doland@idahostatesman.com

© 2012 Idaho Statesman

Idaho Dance Theatre opened its 24th season last weekend with three pieces that show the breadth of this contemporary ballet and modern company’s range.

Although missing one of its signature dancers — Yurek Hansen, who left last year at the end of the season — and Gonzalo Valdez, who is out with an injury, this lineup turned in a terrifically energetic performance. It also included the welcome return of the fabulous Alia Kelley.

This company just keeps getting better each season.

Co-artistic director Carl Rowe’s “Four Characters with an Attitude” opened the concert with Rowe’s signature rich, dynamic imagery. Six dancers skittered across the stage, primordial creatures eerily illuminated by Alfred Hansen’s rich side-lighting.

The music was by Idaho’s David Alan Earnest. The synthesized score depicted the four elements: earth, wind, water and fire, the “characters” Rowe highlighted in the choreography.

Earnest’s music used the sounds of each element as the base of its movement.

The first three movements fit together organically, bringing the characters from the ground to standing, costumed beautifully in organic colors.

“Wind” offered some more gorgeous moments playing with the ideas of breath as Kelley, Caitlin Stanley, Lia Marzek and Sayoko Knode moved Eric Glenn and Kaelen O’Shea off stage with it.

“Water” opened with a sensual “duet” by Elizabeth Hensheid with a bucket of water.

The fourth segment, “Fire,” departed from the organic flow of the piece and suddenly the dancers were wearing trench coats, as if in a 1940s film. It was clever and funny but didn’t fit the rest of the piece.

The concert rounded out with IDT’s other creative half: Marla Hansen’s “Chakra,” a piece from 2002, with six powerful movements, each inspired by chakra points on the body, to the Finnish orchestral rock group Apocalyptica and filled with Hansen’s wonderful talent for creating partner moves; and Rowe’s “Rorschach,” originally created in 1999, to music by Dutch composer Erik Visser.

Both pieces celebrate the company’s long history of original choreography. It was especially interesting seeing two of Rowe’s pieces — separated by 12 years — to see how his work has evolved.

Dana Oland: 377-6442, Twitter: @IDS_DanaOland