Of dance and men...at Dixon Place

Jonathan Royce Windham's
Creatures of Habit
(photo: Nir Arieli)

It's a sorry start to the weekend. All grey out there. So, if you need some zest and some fun, make dance your ticket tonight.

I recommend Creatures of Habit, a program featuring the clever work of that title, choreographed by Jonathan Royse Windham, and a couple of energetic works-in-progress showcased by boomerang and Danté Brown/Warehouse Dance. About 90 minutes, all men dancing all the time.

Why do you want to see that?

Well, in each of these pieces--finished or not, and it's hard to believe there's much more work to be done on those two unfinished ones--these guys go all out. I mean, really all out, whether it is nonstop physical exertion and risk--as in Kora Radella duet, For the Toward, for boomerang's Will Arbery and Matty Davis--or the extremes of comic absurdity in Windham's rambunctious ensemble or the exuberant bromance of three frat brothers so well depicted in Danté Brown's Package by Brown, Michael Abbatiello and the radiant Chafin Seymour.

Choreographer Danté Brown
(photo: Naré Ghazarian)

Each choreographer works with this full-out male energy, in different ways, to challenge and complicate our surface understanding of masculinity and, in the case of Windham with his seven over-the-top archetypes, to wickedly satirize how male performers behave around each other. Windham pushes things about as far as they can go--and sometimes too often or over too long a stretch--but his performers are great at morphing into and sustaining their physical/ psychological roles. Radella draws an erotic and sometimes surprisingly tender intimacy from the connection between her two dancers, all the while threatening them, life and limb, with the heavy metal props they toy with and maneuver quite recklessly.

Tonight's program at 7:30 repeats last night's opener with the three aforementioned companies. See below for programming details for the two upcoming weekends of works.

Creatures of Habit, along with two works in progress*, will run on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm. Remaining shows are on October 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18.

*Schedule of companies and choreographers showing works-in-progress:

October 4: boomerang and Danté B/Warehouse Dance
October 10 and 11: Ephrat Asherie and LAVA
October 17 and 18:  Christopher Ralph and Raja Feather Kelly

Get tickets here.

Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey Streets), Manhattan
(map/directions)