More Tangled Adventures With Pilobolus

If it’s taiko and tangled limbs, it must be Pilobolus Dance Theatre, the ever-inventive, hyper-athletic, surreal dance company that has been entertaining audiences for nearly three decades. In a four-part program at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Wednesday, Pilobolus did not disappoint, but once again mesmerized with its world.

Call it Planet Pilobolus. In the Southern California premiere of “Tsu-Ku-Tsu” (2000), the merging of Eastern sensibilities--an original taiko drum score by Leonard Eto--with Pilobolus’ signature entangled body clusters, proved a moody foray into rituals and dreams.

Choreographed by Alison Chase (one of the company’s four artistic directors), in collaboration with Rebecca Anderson and dancers Otis Cook, Josie Coyoc, Renee Jaworski, Matt Kent, Gaspard Louis and Benjamin Pring, the work moves fluidly from primordial, slow-motion, sumo wrestling-style tableaux to whiplash-inducing gymnastics and adagio-inspired pairings.

Steven Strawbridge’s shifting lighting design is a perfect counterpoint to the dancers’ push-pull, jaw-dropping feats of balance: Cook stands, with Louis sitting on his head (eliciting oohs and aahs from the audience), then, absorbing the percussive rhythms, they roll and tumble to accelerated beats.

Cartwheels and super high springs create a kaleidoscope of bodies in motion, with the finale reminiscent of “Ed Sullivan Show” acrobats posing in pyramid formation. Angelina Avallone’s kimono-like costumes and skimpy sumo thongs further enhance the spectacle.

Another Avallone creation, a long black dress and flying saucer-sized hat give Jaworski plenty to play with in the familiar “Femme Noire” (1999). Choreographed by Chase in collaboration with Anderson and Rebecca Stenn, this whimsical sketch, set to Paul Sullivan’s solo piano score, saw the dancer attempting stereotypical model moves, often to hilarious effect: Whether skittering across the floor or sensuously displaying a lot of leg, the stellar Jaworski made the most of this quasi-erotic divertissement.

In “Gnomen” (1997), choreographed by co-artistic directors Robby Barnett and Jonathan Wolken, members of the male quartet each take turns being comforted or abused, the latter for comic relief. Sullivan’s synthesized treacly score--sometimes harp-like, sometimes Kenny G-ish--is shamelessly manipulative. With contortions worthy of yogis and spectacular lifts in abundance, the piece might fare better with less musical literalization.

“Aeros,” from 1996, choreographed by co-directors Michael Tracy, Barnett, Chase and Wolken in collaboration with a host of dancers, is always a crowd-pleaser. Performed here by all six dancers, and once again set to a Sullivan score, this fable chronicles the adventures of a space explorer who finds himself in an alien world. In other words, it’s quintessential Pilobolus--clever, endearing and physically awesome.