Javier Dzul's "Forest of Kings"

Javier Dzul's self-presentation could not be more eye-catching. The dancer/aerialist/choreographer and head of Dzul Dance makes striking sculpture of his sinewy flesh with every movement on land or in the air. His every appearance in Forest of Kings--an ensemble work premiered last night at Baruch Performing Arts Center--is a regal, masterful study in how to stare down and command a stage or, really, life itself, by sheer force of personality and will. And it is clear that he has inspired his young dancers--at least, the male ones--to go for the gusto, though nobody grabs that gusto quite like Dzul.

I can't say that Forest of Kings, itself, stands up to its creator's qualities. Sourced in Dzul's Mayan heritage and childhood in the jungles of Southern Mexico, the hour-long production twists balletic, modern and aerial techniques into a vaguely-ritualistic, ethnographic fantasia that would not be out of place as a Las Vegas revue. There certainly is enough Vegas cheese in the costuming, the women's mechanistic contortions, their slithering over the men, their frequently splayed, crotch-presenting legs, and the solo--by a dancer resembling the young Cyndi Lauper--that's nearly a pole dance en l'air.

If Dzul made this piece truly out of love for his culture, it would be wonderful to actually see more of that culture and less of the worst values in American entertainment.

Forest of Kings continues tonight and tomorrow, Saturday, at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm. For program, schedule and ticketing information, click here or call 646-312-5073.

Baruch Performing Arts Center

25th Street (between 3rd and Lexington Avenues), Manhattan

(directions)