LOS ANGELES — Bella Lewitzky was a fervently Californian choreographer, a force-of-nature creator who had no particular desire to make it in New York. Instead, she believed in her own center of choreographic gravity, in Los Angeles. So it seems fitting that “Kinaesonata,” not seen for more than 20 years, has been revived for L.A. Dances, a festival at L.A. Dance Project.

For those not familiar with Lewitzky’s work, which was rarely presented after her company disbanded in 1997, “Kinaesonata, staged by Walter Kennedy, a former Lewitzky dancer, is a revelation. In this 1970 piece, set to the insistent rhythms and atonal lyricism of Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No. 1, the dancers move with a deeply rooted , grounded quality that feels very much of its time. But the movement, with its balletic purity of line, its off-center angles and its rapid, joyous flights through space, also feels startlingly vivid and fresh.

The festival, running through Nov. 24, also features eight commissioned pieces, most from Los Angeles choreographers, as well as two works by Benjamin Millepied, the founder and director of the company. It’s a forward-looking enterprise; since starting L.A. Dance Project in 2012, Mr. Millepied has maintained that the city is a fertile ground for dance.

But to look forward, you also have to look back, Mr. Millepied said after a performance in late October at the company’s studios in downtown Los Angeles. “You can give opportunities and try to nurture a generation of choreographers,” he said, “but it’s important that the audience, dancers and choreographers also get some context, that they see this work and understand there is a history here too.”