Colorful costumes, resonant sounds of ancient drums, painterly video projections and yards of billowing nylon. These are only a few of the many sights and sounds of "Roots and Offshoots," the current University of Hawai'i spring dance concert, which pays tribute to both traditional forms and new innovations in dance.

Suzanne Lai Rowland's lyrical sextet to traditional Norwegian songs starts the program off gently. Michael Pili Pang's hula solo "Storm — Ino Ko'olau," beautifully performed by Annie Lokomaika'i Lipscomb, follows. Danced to a score combining nature sounds, traditional chant and an Annie Lennox song, Pang shows that a choreographer can work within a traditional style and still create an original piece.

Amy Lynn Schiffner's dramatic trio, "A Woman's Song," bears witness to the strong modern dance training students at UH receive while evidence of their training in dance forms of other cultures are two classical dances of Korea and Japan.

This year's dance concert is dedicated to the memory of Korean master dancer and musician Kim Ch'on-hung and marks the 100th anniversary of his death. Named a "National Living Treasure" in his country, Kim traveled to Hawai'i in the 1960s, where he taught at Korean dancer Halla Pai Huhm's studio and at the university. The repertory he taught here, including the Drum Dance, was maintained by Huhm's successor, Mary Jo Freshley, a member of the UH dance faculty.

"Mugo," the drum dance, originated in the 13th century. On this occasion it is performed by eight colorfully costumed women who walk majestically around a large drum with gently rising and falling steps and flutters of their long sleeves. While constantly changing spatial arrangements attract our eye, percussive flourishes on the drum arrest the ear.

The way tradition is passed down in dance is also evident in a 19th-century Japanese classical dance, delicately performed by Gwendolyn Arbaugh and Kathryn Mariko Lee, students of UH master teacher, Onoe Kikunobu. (This dance will be replaced by a solo on Sunday.)

Two large group works reflect this year's theme most clearly. Allusions to earlier modern dance creations appear in "White Out," a collaboration by faculty members Betsy Fisher, Gregg Lizenbery and Amy Lynn Schiffner. It features eleven dancers and many yards of white nylon material, voluminous fabric which takes on a sculptural life of its own. The play of light on material creates powerful visual effects as does the occasional video projected onto it. Dancers disappear under the fabric, manipulate it like waves, pull and hang it.

Guest artist Keiko Fujii's "Entangled Offshoots" closes the program. The three-part work begins ponderously with a group of somnambulistic figures in white kimonos traversing the stage with small, sliding steps reminiscent of Japanese noh theatre. Suddenly one, then others, break rank and turn abruptly. Tempo and tension increase until several — with a flick of the kimono — turn blood red and writhe on the floor. "I'm Late" is the rude awakening of a frenzied city worker (admirably performed by Stephanie Gumpel), and the final section, "Entangled Offshoots," depicts 18 agitated business people going nowhere fast.

Throughout the evening the performances are uniformly excellent, as are the production values. A satisfying and unique experience in the theater awaits this weekend's audience.