When the door is opened to the Dance Alloy's sunny second-floor studio, snapping conga rhythms burst into the hallway. Inside dancers are finishing the barre as percussionist Andrew Rishikof, seated in the corner with an array of instruments from cow bell to the African djembe, seems to urge them on.

The Alloy has been operating on familiar territory for a couple of years with a stable collection of dancers. But on this Monday morning, former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre member Christopher Bandy is settling in for his first class on decidedly unfamiliar turf.

Not that he hasn't made that risky jump before -- there were performances in Dwight Rhoden's PBT premieres "7th Heaven" and "Simon Said," which put ballet on a full contemporary tilt. And that summer at Juilliard where, as a student, he immersed himself in modern dance for a few weeks.

		Performance Preview: Dance Alloy Theater Event: Join Swedish choreographer Per Sacklen for an informal work-in-progress showing of Dance Alloy Theater's upcoming encore production of Per Jonsson's seminal work Schakt. Where: Dance Alloy Theater Studio, 5530 Penn Ave. (corner of Stratford Street). When: 7 p.m. Oct. 3. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets: The evening begins with a wine and cheese reception; admission is $5. Only 60 seats are available. 412-363-4321 or info@dancealloy.org.

But now Bandy is making the commitment, joining the Alloy after five years with American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey and four years with Pittsburgh Ballet, where he demonstrated a penetrating solo stage presence and a way of getting to the heart of the choreography.

Actually, it seems that Bandy is coming full circle, because he isn't far from home. The Pittsburgh artist was born in Parkersburg, W.Va., where he received his early training, before making the jump to the East Coast and New York.

He became a principal dancer at American Repertory Ballet but followed his heart when his girlfriend got a job in Pittsburgh. ARC artistic director Septime Webre personally called PBT's Terrence Orr to recommend Bandy.

Now Bandy and his wife, Mollie, are settled in Pittsburgh with daughter Amelia, who will be 2 years old Oct. 29. So when Bandy decided he could contribute something else to the local arts scene, he cast his lot with the Alloy.

Even though dancers are more versatile than ever and often, in a company like PBT, have to be able to assimilate everything from "Sleeping Beauty" to Bruce Springsteen, it's still the proverbial stretch to make the transition to the Alloy.

"Take the tension out of your face," Alloy artistic director Beth Corning says as she moves her company into the center of the studio facing the mirror. It's something not heard in a ballet class, and it's not the most obvious change.

That comes with the bare feet -- and Corning is the one to bring it up first.

"He has no blisters," she says casually, to which Bandy casually replies, "Hello, Mr. Blister." Later he says that the company is being "very good about it." His feet last until mid-afternoon, at which point he puts on his ballet shoes to ease the friction against the floor.

With slippers to protect their feet, ballet dancers glide swiftly across the floor, seemingly at odds with gravity. Modern dance takes pride in the earth, in being grounded.

Corning also emphasizes the weight in her plies, definitely not the upright approach that ballet uses. So her plies include not only a bending of the torso, but four pulses "into the ground."

While ballet dancers move across the floor with French terminology -- glissade, pas de chat, glissade, grand jete, for example -- these modern men and women do walks and kicks with a torso tilt. Prances are executed not only forward, but backward, something far more dangerous if attempted in a company of 30, such as PBT. There are only five Alloy members, plus occasional guests.

Bandy's first Alloy new role is in Per Jonsson's "Schakt," where he will be dancing on a dirt pathway and wielding a hammer against a gong. In an echoic twist, Swedish dancer Per Sacklen, a former principal dancer at PBT, will stage the work.

Bandy sums up his first day: "Ballet works you to the bone from the start. This technique has a lot more stretching to get the body warm, which could be a good thing." And he notes that the process of getting him more grounded was actually helping him to feel his center, the plum line down the middle of the body.

"Dance is dance," he concludes. "I enjoy dancing. And if I don't enjoy it, then it's time to retire."

This is the first of an occasional series following Christopher Bandy as he makes the transition from ballet to Dance Alloy, highlighting differences and similarities between the dance forms.