Exciting and risky, dance and live music collaborations are the ultimate challenge. Finding balance where the two art forms unify is a difficult process that takes time.

The Mojalet Dance Collective and the Swiss percussive group Rhythm Talk linked up in Olten, Switzerland last November, and while their new collaboration clearly shows their shared passion for experimentation, both groups need to scale back a bit. Their polished program of five dances and a musical interlude rocked the senses last weekend at SDSU's Studio Theatre, but overwhelmed the audience with its forceful approach. With little change in dynamics, the combined movement and music began to look and sound the same.

Faith Jensen-Ismay, Mojalet's artistic director, specializes in jazzy, athletic movement and lifts, and she's known for her intense emotion and comic wit. She brings that vocabulary to this program, but all of the dances are structured with the full company juxtaposed with polyphonic solos, duets and trios. Her speedy dancers interact confidently in both serious and humorous works, rebounding, sliding across the floor and balancing in handstands. Still, facial expressions often feel odd, such as big Broadway grins during a dance with bodies moving as sculptures on tube-like pillars.

Music by composer Noby Lehmann, the leader of the Rhythm Talk trio, is vigorous and expansive in style, a treat for percussion aficionados (several attended on Friday), but sound-sensitive folks should consider bringing earplugs. Set up at the back of the stage, Lehmann, Christopher Blattner, and Ruedi Maurer go nuts on three drum sets, bongos, a twang stick, and a rhythm box, as well as mysterious high-tech sound-making equipment. When paired with dance, the trio works best with playful, explosive themes.

The strongest performances come from Jensen-Ismay and Osvaldo Aponte in solos and duets. In "Mantis," Aponte is riveting in martial arts inspired roundhouse kicks and amazes with his strength and flexibility. Jensen-Ismay is breathtaking with her powerful grace and kinetic wisdom. Together, they heat up the room in passionate falls to the floor and entwined embraces.

The sexual tension is highest in "Pulse," a dance punctuated by heartbeat rhythms and little gasps. In the last section, Osvaldo fondles Jensen-Ismay's hair; they leave the stage, and return with less clothing. Their fling continues as they lift and toss each other with no fear of injury, and they reach a steamy resolution with hands gliding down their thighs.

The premier of "Transparency" in the last half is a distinctive exploration of light illuminating objects and transparency in relationships. A spacey set design by Joe Ismay has dancers crammed into clear plastic boxes on illuminated pedestals. The strange scene simultaneously conjures images of alien experiments and ancient rituals. The fascination of the dance is how bodies move in and out of the boxes and hide behind a curtain of sticks, and a woman that climbs in and out of a water-filled box. Violinist Kris Apple softens the percussive sounds with delicate plucks and abstract melodies. Several sequences are promising, so organic, so scaled back that music and movement morph into a single entity, and those magical times are what make dancing to live music so intriguing and rewarding.

Download program here

Mojalet performs with Rhythm Talk again on Oct. 10 at the Truax Theater in Oceanside and Oct. 12 at the Poway Center for the Arts.