Modern dance is alive and well. And the evidence is coming from Israel. In the lineup of dance offerings at this year’s Lincoln Center Festival, there are seven companies. Three of them are contemporary troupes from Israel: Batsheva Dance Company, Emanuel Gat Dance, and Yasmeen Godder and The Bloody Bench Players. For a festival to be so dominated by dance from one country is fairly unusual — and an important development for the art form. While American modern dance stagnates with hero-worship (or collapses under the weight of downtown angst), Israeli choreographers are pounding out a new path.

The director of the Festival, Nigel Redden, says the programming fell into place somewhat accidentally. “It was a question of looking at interesting choreographers whose work has not been seen much here,” Mr. Redden said.

That is true of the two smaller companies, Emanuel Gat Dance, and Yasmeen Godder. But Batsheva Dance Company has performed at this festival and the Brooklyn Academy of Music with some regularity, and its artistic director, Ohad Naharin, was eager to return.

“Ohad was here in the fall and said he loved being at State Theater [for a previous Lincoln Center festival],” Mr. Redden said. “When he was working on ‘Telophaza,’ he said if it worked out he’d loved to come back to that theater.”

“Telophaza” features 40 dancers from both the main company and its feeder, the Batsheva Ensemble. This large-scale work is lighter — in spirit, not quality — than some of his earlier pieces. Dancers emerge in bright neon unitards and later in groovy printed ones. The atmosphere is one of a party at which guests keep changing the tunes: There’s Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Beck, and traditional Greek music.

But this large group also gives way to intensely intimate moments. Screens at the back of the stage show close-up videos of a face or feet, forcing your perspective to shift from the group to the individual. Don’t expect to catch everything; you’re not meant to. The dancers bend and fold themselves into intense shapes so fast that they catch your eye for an instant, then dissolve. Which is deft on Mr. Naharin’s part; this is movement that leaves you hungry for more. It is exhilarating — and quite often unpretty.

Pretty holds little sway over any of these choreographers. Mr. Gat comes close with his “The Rite of Spring,” set to Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps” (which calls to choreographers like a siren). Mr. Gat himself performs in this piece for five dancers — two men and three women, all in chic black. For 35 minutes, the dancers whirl in a frenzy of salsa dancing. But this is salsa with an exacting, cold edge — almost deconstructed.The group of dancers has one more woman than man, so the partners are constantly switching; the choreography unfolds in a fluid series of steps, turns, and spins that are intricately calculated — with an undercurrent of wild urgency.

Though the dancers are in modern dress, the pagan ritual in the music is not ignored. By the end, the couples face the looming sacrifice with a sort of remoteness. “[The sacrifice] happens in his piece, but it happens with a contemporary gloss that makes it seem all the more real and alive,” said Mr. Redden.

Also on Mr. Gat’s bill is “Winter Voyage,” a dance for two men set to three parts of Schubert’s song cycle “Die Winterreise.” Just as with “The Rite of Spring,” the movement here is fluid and articulate, yet “Winter Voyage” was created firmly in a contemporary dance idiom — and is likely to be enjoyed most by a well-versed dance audience.

The audience for Ms. Godder’s 80-minute work, “Strawberry Cream and Gunpowder,” should be prepared for an emotional wallop. Aggressive is an understatement for this bridge between dance and performance art. Ms. Godder creates movement that addresses the current state of affairs in the Middle East and all the pain that comes along with it. “This work is the most reflective of the troubles in Israel,” Mr. Redden said. “It is art made on the front line.”

Here are silent screams, fights, and confrontations that are designed to chill. Ms. Godder’s sensibility, though, is an example of why art is so vital in times of conflict: It gives shape to visceral emotions we might prefer to ignore. “It’s not easy work,” Mr. Redden said. “But it’s fascinating work.”

Indeed, that description — not easy, but fascinating — is the commonality among these choreographers, who are yet so different in scale, style, and intent. Across the board, engaging with these works is not optional.

Batsheva Dance Company will perform “Telophaza” on July 20, 21, and 22 (New York State Theater, Lincoln Center). Emanuel Gat Dance will perform “Winter Voyage” and “The Rite of Spring” on July 12, 14, and 15 (La-Guardia Concert Hall, Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Yasmeen Godder and the The Bloody Bench Players will perform “Strawberry Cream and Gunpowder” on July 27 and 29 (La-Guardia Drama Theater, Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). (For tickets to all Lincoln Center Festival events, call 212-721-6500.)