The School of Music’s “Jazzin,’ ” a collaborative music and dance performance featuring the University Dance Company and Jazz Ensemble, electrified audiences this weekend at the Power Center. The event transported audiences from a smoky jazz bar to a swing dance club and even the banana plantations of Latin America with works by the Department of Dance faculty.

Syncopated rhythms and improvisation typically mark jazz music, yet this performance traversed a wide variety of moods and social experiences. The evening’s first piece presented a more classic jazz image with an impressive tap solo by Music freshman Jarel Waters. Dressed in a relaxed, collared shirt and jeans, Waters danced up and over a prop staircase, leaving the audience on edge as he slid down the steps without skipping a beat. In this self-choreographed piece, Waters reflected the grace of Fred Astaire and the modern flair of Gregory Hines.

Gay Delanghe’s “Dancin’ Fats” was the first company piece, drawing on the spirit of great jazz musician Fats Waller and the stylish “jazz babies” of the 1930s. Dressed in black and white outfits with stripes, polka dots, frilly tutus and feathered hats, dancers moved to sharp and flirtatious choreography.

Both Sandra Torijano’s “Bella” and Bill DeYoung’s “Dance You Monster to My Soft Song” featured more ominous music, threatening the notion of more traditional jazz. Torijano chose to frame the strengths of each “bella” in her piece, highlighting a variety of personalities — sassy, patient, playful and aggressive. DeYoung developed a series of interweaving solos and duets amid a furious large ensemble piece. While Torijano chose romantic dresses in wine-colored crushed velvet, DeYoung created a dangerous mood with dancers dressed in sleek red and purple unitards.

Alexandra Beller’s “Reasons for Moving” deconstructed the genres presented earlier in the performance with the evening’s most disorienting and deeply layered piece. At first glance, the dancers seemed indifferent to each other’s motions, but it was clear that the piece presented a more nuanced form of improvisation.

Beller’s piece progressed from dull pedestrian movement to spastic confusion as the dancers’ street clothes intensified in color. Video collage of urban life separated each of the three parts of the piece. In each section, the emergence of pastel colors and then vibrant shades of blue, coral and violet suggested the act of stretching beyond imposed limitations. Both the music and the stage environment reflected raw life experiences with a DJ spinning to a funky club beat alongside a screeching electric guitar and an exposed stage revealing cinder blocks, cables and light panels. Movement themes were repeated: Bodies bent over, incessantly tapping the air, standing dancers pounded their forearms against an invisible box and a supportive community of dancers circulated the stage together.

In contrast to Beller’s raw depiction of urban life, Bob Fosse’s “Rich Man’s Frug” highlighted an elitist smoking lounge, the comedic height of the performance. “Ponytail Girl,” danced by Akemi Look, epitomized Fosse’s sexy, quirky choreography. Robin Wilson’s “Lovejoy Suite” featured another delightful piece. Wearing twirling floral sundresses and burgundy zoot suits, dancers swung to the big band music of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

The evening closed with Sandra Torijan’s “Suite Latin Jazz,” which depicted the passionate lives of disenfranchised banana harvesters in Costa Rica. Among several movements were a flirtatious afternoon break, a passionate evening pas de deux and a poignant piece with four male dancers set to the voice of Cuban poet Jos