The Dance Alloy has toyed with a dark humor under the artistic direction of Beth Corning and it has always been extremely serious fun. But with its latest concert, "... A Different Drummer," the Alloy entered a comfort zone where a new confidence and trust entered the stage picture at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, so much so that the audience could sit back and really enjoy the dance experience.

The title came mostly from a new work by David Parker, "After the Beat." Parker is well known for his use of body percussion and other assorted rhythmic sources. While the piece used elementary students from the Dilworth World Drummers at the start and finish and the dancers first explored their own rhythmic acuity in silence with their feet, this piece was a bit of a stretch for Parker.

His accompaniment came from pop music of the '60s and '70s, but the familiar rhythmic underpinnings of music from the Beatles and Shirley Bassey were not quite as apparent. Parker picked apart the rhythms, both on the beat and off the beat and left space in between, often transferring the thread of movement between the dancers. The effect was low-key and relaxed, but with occasional splashes of humor, as if Parker simply couldn't help himself.

Providing the framework were two pieces from the repertoire, but they looked brand-spanking new. Maribeth Maxa and Michael Walsh displayed a muscular beauty as they smoothly grappled in Pilobolus' "Duet." In Maxa's debut several years ago, the seams were apparent in the transfers with Cass Ghiorse.

The surprise of the evening was Marina Harris' "Table of Content." There was a table, of course, a movable one. But now the sections, with their child-like naivete, were connected by a welcome touch of whimsy, even extending to a striptease ending that was not really an ending. After all, what could follow that?

So the dancers, male and female, were content to play with long taffeta skirts and flickering footwork and bubble gum, where the antics were enough to make the audience laugh or scrunch up its collective face in mock disgust.

Still it was a grand old time marching along, whether on, off or after the beat of this "Drummer" and the Alloy's finest Corning concert to date.

The program will be repeated tonight at 7 p.m., preceded by a Happy Hour beginning at 5:30. Call 412-363-4321 or visit infor@dancealloy.org.