Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers program marred by repetition

"A dynamic meditation on the journey from external division to internal oneness."

According to the news release, that was the theme of "ONE-Immortal Game," which received its world premiere by the Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers at Drexel University's Mandell Theater Friday night. It was also the focus of the evening's second work, "Mandala Project." Though such thematic relationships can be satisfying, repeating certain elements (like Tibetan chanting) in both pieces seemed unwise.

"One" takes its inspiration from chess, and the superbly trained dancers (plus three excellent apprentices) clearly embodied the competitiveness and strategy associated with the game. The simple gray tunics Heidi Barr designed for men and women were effective, but at times, Stephen Petrilli's lighting was too dim.

High points included the segment featuring Duane Holland Jr. and Liu Mo, two extremely talented young men with very different movement styles. (Holland began his career with local hip-hop artist Rennie Harris; Mo is a highly trained, Chinese-born classical dancer.) If the goal of Kun Yang Lin is to showcase aesthetic variety while blending diverse techniques into effective unison dancing, it has succeeded.

"Mandala" was thrilling. Here Lin, the company's founder, artistic director, and choreographer, creates theatrical magic - starting with the opening, in which a group of dancers slowly inch their way across the stage, moving as a single organism, their faces and bodies completely covered by the inventive costumes Barr created with HuaHua Zhang.

The extended passage danced by company veteran Jennifer Rose - she of the liquid spine and languorous limbs - should be seen as often as possible.

But it was a shame when Lin's otherwise-elegant and inventive solo veered off into cliche, as he lowered his eyes and pressed his palms together, a posture soon copied by the other dancers. As the spiritual quality of the work had already been established, this was unnecessarily literal.