I don’t know about the link between talent and testosterone, but there certainly is a long tradition that connects art-making to machismo. Harlem jazz musicians tried to wow the women, and each other, in all-night back room cutting sessions. The highest grand jete usually got the ballet star guy the tutu-ed girl. And don’t even get me started about Van Gogh and Gaughin.
That’s the spirit Ed Burgess tongue-in-cheekily brought to his Danceworks concert this weekend, called “A Guy Thing.” In between numbers, sweaty, panting dancers would hover in the wings before going offstage, eyeing the next performers like street-corner toughs, smirking and crossing arms at the next act as they took their places – “Let’s see you beat that, chumps!”
No chumps here. And plenty of variety, too. Julio Pabon and his son Javier demonstrated a little music making and a little Brazilia n capoeira. Milwaukee Ballet dancers Marc Petrocci and Michael Linsmeier choreographed their own effortlessly athletic routine to a folk-ballad by sweet-voiced Chicago singer-songwriter Mark Minelli (played onstage by Minella). 
Danceworks company member Joe Fransee delivered an affectionate tribute to Juan Tizol’s “Caravan,” playing, dancing with, and dancing against a trombone. Burgess donned a swim mask and tuxedo jacket to plumb the connections between orchestral music and the swell of the ocean (choreographed by Dan Schuchart. And Burgess also featured a new piece of his own, an extended trio that showcased not only his knack for endless invention, but also the talents of three up and coming UWM students, Ben Follensbee, Dylan Baker and Andy Zanoni.
But the highlight of the program was certainly the hip-hop stylings of Louis Hurd’s students from Kenosha Bradford High School. Ready for their MTV close up, they played the crowd like pros, and brought the spirit of one-upmanship to a fever pitch.
Photos by Frophoto.
