DANCE REVIEW : Dances Portray Sexual Undoing : Stage: Malashock troupe stakes out fascinating territory in its pieces at the Old Globe.

SAN DIEGO — Classical dance has its story ballets. Modern dance ought to have a similar term, such as story dances , for the fascinating territory John Malashock is staking out for himself. Two of the three works in Malashock Dance & Company’s program, which opened Thursday at the Old Globe Theatre, are narratives in which characters are undone by sexual passion--”Stan’s Retreat,” possibly the strongest piece in the company’s repertory, and the flamenco-influenced “Laberinto del Caballo Verde” (Labyrinth of the Green Horse).

“Stan’s Retreat,” a 1990 work, is loosely based on Carson McCullers’ “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.” Steam, composed of both Southern heat and sexuality, practically rose from the Globe’s stage Thursday as Greg Lane and Loni Palladino entered, lovers so absorbed in each other they were rarely out of physical contact. Leaning into one another as if drugged with sensuality, the couple--and the wonderfully moody, jazzy score composed for this dance by Mark Attebury--seemed to inflame two single women, Debi Toth and Coco Campbell.

Campbell, making her first appearance with the troupe, performed a sizzling solo that became an equally sizzling duet with Malashock. At the end of the duet, she walked away, leaving Malashock lying on the floor. Her loud sigh, as after enormous effort, brought appreciative laughter from the audience. Still a student at San Diego State University, Campbell is a lithe, supple-spined dancer who occupied the stage with the authority of a seasoned performer.

Sections of unison work--sometimes all five dancers, sometimes the four townspeople dancing in opposition to Malashock, the outsider--were fluid, a pleasure to watch.

“Stan’s Retreat” ended with the poignant image of Malashock and Toth standing back to back and rocking backward and forward, a connection far less sensual than that of the lovers, but one that held out a kind of tenuous hope for relationships.

“Laberinto del Caballo Verde,” which premiered earlier this year, didn’t work as well as “Stan’s Retreat.” Malashock deserves credit, however, for stretching beyond the familiar with this effort to blend flamenco and modern dance.

Co-choreographed by Malashock and flamenco artist Yaelisa, “Laberinto” is a story of sensuality, betrayal and murder that could have come from a Carlos Saura film, as could the soulful live guitar accompaniment provided by Bruce Patterson.

Yaelisa, performing traditional flamenco in the background, was the Moon in a silver dress. Hers was a mysterious, commanding presence that suggested the powerful impulses that can make people virtually leap toward tragedy.

However, Yaelisa’s accomplished style--sinuous arms and rapid-fire heel beats--pointed up the fact that not all of the Malashock dancers took easily to the flamenco-derived choreography in parts of this dance. Maj Xander and Greg Lane both mastered the high, chest-out carriage and extended shoulders that made the movements look right on them. The others (Malashock, Toth and Palladino) were less convincing.

“Laberinto” had some problems of composition as well as of technique. The use of Yaelisa as a sort of Spanish chorus, dancing upstage while the story took place downstage, could be counterproductive, splitting one’s attention rather than intensifying the narrative. And the dancers were arranged in space with less assurance than in “Stan’s Retreat” or Malashock’s other story dance, “Apologies from the Lower Deck.” (It would be fascinating to see all three story dances in a single program.)

Rounding out this bill was “Take This Waltz,” a 1990 work to three songs by Leonard Cohen. “Take This Waltz” is an extremely accessible piece because of Cohen’s lyrics, which are variously wry, plaintive and mysterious. However, certain gestures, such as interrupted arm swings, were repeated so often that, especially if one has seen this work more than once, they became tedious.

The most interesting thing about seeing “Take This Waltz” was to compare it to the other works on the program, especially “Stan’s Retreat,” in which the arm swings no longer seemed an echo of Malashock’s years with Twyla Tharp but a gesture he had made his own.

Malashock Dance & Company repeats the same program today at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Old Globe Theatre. 239-2255.