Directors Jean-Philippe Malaty and Tom Mossbrucker have succeeded in luring some of the finest contemporary choreographers for their young dance company. Friday eveningís performance at the National Hispanic Cultural Center revealed these dancers' superb artistry, fulfilling the demanding choreography with seeming ease.

Edwaard Liang created the achingly emotive Whispers In The Dark, to music by Philip Glass. Three couples moved out of, and into darkness at the rear of the stage, creating a dark infinity of space reminiscent of some of Jiri Kilyan's work. The four sections presented romantic duets as the three couples moved like secret lovers, whispering their desires through gesture. Brooke Klinger and DelGrasso, Lauren Alzamora and Chase, and Katie Dehler and Chittenden were stunning.

There was a breathless sense of passion and sensuous joy as the dancers basked in, and embraced the airiness of space, seen especially in a male trio in the first section. Bare-chested, Seth DelGrasso, Eric Chase and Sam Chittenden used lifted, then curving upper torso gestures, initiated from the spine, to express a kind of ecstasy in space.

The love duet in the third section had a dreamy, aching quality as Chittenden and Dehler gently stalked, and sinuously melted into each other They seemed to swim in the dream space, with the air a slightly viscous medium between them.

At the end all three couples quietly slipped in to the darkness upstage as the ballet ended.

Tharp's Sweet Fields, was first performed in 1996 and was based on 19th century Shaker hymns from William Billings and The Sacred Harp The ten dancers, dressed in Norma Kamali's silken white costumes, performed the geometrical designs in all their straightforward simplicity with clarity and precision. The well known A Gift to be Simple is the guiding principle of the choreography as diagonal lines of movement evolve in circles, chevrons, and crossing lines. Male and female groups dance the clear motifs separately, evolving them contrapuntally throughout the songs.

The second song was joyful with five women entering in a step, hop, hop pattern kicking flexed feet in front of them. A casual, folk quality pervaded throughout, but with restrained lyricism.

The third song, Chesterfield, was danced as a male dirge with four men carrying a man high above their heads. Each of the figures moved outside the procession sequentially in slow, contracted body gestures to mourn, and each took the place of the carried figure in swift, elegant place changes. At one point the body is dropped to be carried horizontally into their arms, then later shifted from on high to glide down under the procession.

The last song, expressed a festive spirit with the words A new Jerusalem -- Oh what a glorious sight, involving the entire company. The shaking hands motif spread to couples pounding on each other's backs, and final lifts as three of the women were held high in plank positions by six men, bodies and hands vibrating vigorously.

The entire program had an artistic shape of its own, with variety of tone, design, and content.

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