When I attend dance performances, I tend to skip diving into the event program until after the show. I don’t like to read about what a piece is supposed to mean before I see it with my own two eyes. For me, part of the fun of watching a performance whose “story” I’m unfamiliar with is trying to interpret what the creator wants to tell me. Sometimes, my interpretations are correct. Sometimes, I’m wrong. And sometimes, the experience — and whatever emotions it evokes in you as an audience member — is what the artist wants. Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s “Retro/ACTIVE,” the kickoff for ArtsWave’s Flow series, delivered all of these things and more.

The opening piece, “On the Wings of Angels,” set the tone for a night full of memorable moves. The most powerful of the four pieces presented, this moving tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen was simultaneously hopeful and solemn. We know that many of these men’s lives were spent serving a country that didn’t value them — having to face danger during in combat in addition to the dangerous conditions of their training and what they continued to face when they returned home — but DCDC’s male dancers were able to represent through movement how proud those soldiers must have been to fly missions during World War II. The way the dancers glided across the stage, arms spread wide like the wings of airplanes; I’m not sure if my ears were playing tricks on me, but I swore I heard the whooshing sound that gusts of wind make when rushing through one’s ears! “On the Wings of Angels” was a fitting visual testament to the resilience of African Americans and the external acknowledgement that our contributions to society are worthy of respect.

While the visual religious imagery of “On the Wings of Angels” felt joyous, “Vespers,” a tribute to faith and spirituality, felt like watching religious devotees punish themselves. Perhaps this piece was compelling because its repetition of moves looked like the dancers were meant to represent the very act of having faith? There are hills and valleys on the road to spiritual enlightenment and in those valleys, struggles can feel overwhelming at times. A whirling dervish of individual dances slammed together, in “Vespers,” the female dancers offered themselves up in prostration, appearing to be fighting off those energies that would test and twist their faith. The exhales at the end of piece might signify the dancers’ triumph over whatever adversity their faith throws at them.

Some of that frenetic energy of “Vespers” carried over into “Indestructible,” which was full of grunts, gasps, stomping, clapping and shouting that served as the main musical soundtrack for the piece. The piece was a show of strength, a pure expression of physicality that forced sounds from the dancers’ bodies as they moved around the stage in athletic wear performing a combination of acrobatic-like moves. While “Indestructible” appeared to be the most physically taxing of the four pieces presented, the dancers made the moves look like something they would use as a warmup, a demonstration of what it takes to be a performer of world-class caliber.

The performance ended with the world premiere of “Num3r8tions,” a light and airy number set to a Dave Brubeck soundtrack. While it was said to be a tribute to the company’s next 50 years, it felt like a throwback to an earlier time in dance, one reminiscent of a showier Broadway musical dance numbers, but nonetheless a wonderful end to beautiful night of dance.

Sometimes, certain forms of contemporary art can be hard to evaluate analyze. It’s much easier to pretend you know what you’re looking at when you’re standing in front of a static piece of artwork that requires extra thought; the same cannot be said of a live performance. A live piece requires your undivided attention. And Dayton Contemporary Dance Company certainly has my attention from here on out.

Aiesha D. Little is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati. Her work has appeared in local, regional and national publications, including Cincinnati Magazine and Ohio magazine.