I'm the first to admit, I know nothing about modern dance. But the great thing about "Bodyspeak" by the BaBa For Now troupe is that I didn't have to. The four women performers presented a thought-provoking yet engaging program Saturday at Dianna's Studio North.

And, in a show that included themes of how women relate to their bodies -- and how we're viewed by men -- this program featured women with real women's bodies. The dancers are 35 to 45 years young, and they move with a graceful fluidity and energy that younger females would envy.

Modern dance may not seem as accessible as other forms of dance, but these four performers -- Kara Bithell, Hannah DeGroot, Andrea De Zubiria and Aimee Morales -- produced a show filled with humor, joy and expressions of the daily pressures that women face. They also effectively used a sparse set with few props, spoken words via an audio track, and videos (one showing women and men talking about feminine issues, the other a funny takeoff on exercise videos).

Most of all, though, there was the intricate choreography and movement -- sometimes abstract, sometimes flowing, always confident. I particularly enjoyed "L'handscape," which featured two dancers as women who seemed to be on a journey through life, each supporting the other through interlocked hands and arms and harmonious gestures. The finale, "Randomonium," was a high energy, techno music-fueled zest-capade in which the dancers toward the end took the hands of audience members and brought them out on the floor to groove. We should all feel so light on our feet.

Playing: 4 p.m. Sunday (March 2), 7 p.m. Friday, and 1 p.m. Saturday (March 8) at Dianna's Studio North, 826 N. Fulton St. Cost: $7. Rating: PG