Now Resurfacing, the Myth of the Serpent Scorned For all the differences infusing Eastern and Western artistic traditions, one can count on certain universal realities. For example: If you're a young, female innocent in a canonical love story, chances are that things won't go so swimmingly for you. Even if you turn into a vengeful oceanic Leviathan, as does the abandoned Kiyohime (Kiyo Takami) in "Dojoji: The Man Inside the Bell," satisfaction will not be yours. Sorry, gals. Written by Ernest Abuba and directed by Tisa Chang, this 80-minute "Dojoji," presented by the Pan Asian Repertory Theater at the Clurman Theater, is a half-ancient, half-contemporary take on a classic Japanese myth. A young monk, the emperor's son Anchin (Toshiji Takeshima), falls for an innkeeper's daughter while on his way to the Dojoji Temple. When he leaves her, she transforms herself into a serpent demon (portrayed by the choreographer Sachiyo Ito), spurred by her wrath to pursue Anchin through the centuries to contemporary Tokyo. The time-hopping gives the production license to hop among genres and textures, from Ms. Ito's striking classical dance to martial art scenes and anime projections. Kaori Akazawa's strikingly bare set, consisting of stacked platforms and cords hinting at the symbolic bell floating overhead, is paired with overhead projection and animation by Robin Starbuck. Ms. Starbuck's depiction of a ghostly, wintry forest is particularly evocative; the present-day urban scenes are less distinctive. Yet "Dojoji" remains resolutely polite, so its stylistic shifts lack the impact they might have - Yasuko Yokoshi's recent work at New York Live Arts, "Bell," with its marvelously startling collision of the same Japanese myth with the 19th-century ballet "Giselle," several times floated tantalizingly through my mind while at the Clurman on Sunday afternoon. Nor does this production truly delve into the rich issues of class and faith swirling around Anchin and Kiyohime's ill-fated romance. It's a missed opportunity. If you're going to dredge up a serpent demon, you'd better give her teeth.