Peter Boal has been expanding Pacific Northwest Ballet’s repertory since he got here five years ago, and one of the first additions he made was Ulysses Dove’s visceral 1994 Red Angels. For this revival, part of a program called 3 by Dove, a quartet of scarlet-clad dancers will take their cues from solo violinist Mary Rowell. Boal has since added Vespers (1986), based on female family members recollected by the late choreographer (1947-1996). Dove’s legacy in contemporary dance is the sheer physicality of his material, and tonight’s PNB premiere, the 1992 Serious Pleasures, is subtitled “the merciless battle between spirit and flesh”—battle being the keyword and an indicator of its demands on the dancers. Thematically, as in flesh, the piece looks back to the dawning AIDS epidemic in the ’80s. Also on the bill (“for mature audiences,” according to PNB): a hip-hop/ballet hybrid by rising young L.A. choreographer Victor Quijada, who claims Dove as an influence. Commissioned by Boal in 2006, Suspension of Disbelief promises to push PNB’s hyper-skilled dancers outside traditional boundaries—a little farther from Balanchine, a little closer to the barrio. SANDRA KURTZ [See Sandra’s full review.]

Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., March 20, 2 p.m.; Sun., March 28, 1 p.m. Starts: March 18. Continues through March 27, 2010