The Open-Air Artistry of City Parks Dance

Some of this city's lesser-served parks and communities will receive special attention in the form of dance this week. Starting on Wednesday, the Joyce Theater, together with City Parks Foundation, is taking outdoor performances a step beyond the outdoor dance stage and is presenting three separate works that can only exist in the open. Three works in 25 performances in a series called Dance Out! will reach into far-flung corners of the five boroughs to celebrate the Joyce's 25th anniversary: a relationship between man and machine, a pole-dance that defies gravity, and an improvisation of music, dance, and environment.

"These pieces are so perfect for this environment because they can't be done in a theater," the executive director of the Joyce Theater, Linda Shelton, said of the specific selection of works. "It was important that we identify works that are appropriate and that we really feel passionate about."

All three pieces call out for attention, an important ingredient of any outdoor performance. Every summer, presenters bring dance into city parks in an attempt to reach a broader range of audiences. The annual Evening Stars series in Battery Park is one such outdoor endeavor. CityParks Dance, too, introduced by City Parks Foundation three years ago, has actively brought dance to underserved parks and atypical audiences through performances, master classes, and lecture demonstrations. Dance Out!, with the eccentricity of the three works and remoteness of some of the venues, tries to reach even farther.

"We want to bring dance to people who don't see dance as part of their regular cultural activity, so these people might get interested in going to the theater too," the executive director of City Parks Foundation, David Rivel, said. "These pieces fit perfectly with our mission because they are very accessible."

In "Transports Exceptionnels," by the French choreographer Dominique Boivin, a dancer partners a large mechanical excavator and begins to break boundaries between man and machine to the sound of Maria Callas's dramatic voice.

"The public has to believe that it's a true relationship between man and machine," a dancer, Philippe Priasso, who has performed this piece in cultural settings ranging from Brazil to Korea to South Africa, said. "I look at the machine like a dance partner, forgetting that it's a machine, and build the impression that it's alive. Sometimes men start watching with detachment and by the end some of them cry — it's strange to see this and emotionally very touching."

"Transports Exceptionnels" undergoes subtle changes depending on where it's performed, and the setting contributes to the story. When told next to a London cathedral, the tale is different than in small-town France, or in a wide-open field, or in St. Mary's Park in the Bronx.

Similarly, the Netherlands-based choreographer Michael Schumacher, formerly a dancer with William Forsythe's company, is performing a piece that changes from one incarnation to the next. In "Dans le Jardin," originally performed at the Lyon Biennial in France in 2004, Mr. Schumacher improvises to Bach suites performed live by the cellist Alex Waterman. The two men play off of each other, collaborating through space, sound, and site, and are influenced by the energy of spectators around them.

"It's great that spectators will be pretty upfront to these pieces," Ms. Shelton said. "With Michael, for example, you can pretty much dance with him if you want — that's also a way of looking at dance."

To Mr. Schumacher, the beauty and power of "Dans le Jardin" lie in its openness and unpredictability.

"As a performer I want to open myself to everything and determine the when, what, where, how, and why in every moment," Mr. Schumacher said. "Performing in a park opens a whole new set of options of how you can experience dance and music and communication. It's interesting for the spectator to be in a slightly altered place. You can appreciate performance in a different way."

In the third piece, "Contigo," by the Portuguese choreographer Rui Horta, a 20-foot vertical pole is the point of departure. A dancer and master of the Chinese pole swivels up and down, turns and spins, and seemingly defies gravity.Although none of the three pieces in Dance Out! is site-specific, they are all specifically for the outdoor world and this is part of their appeal.

"We don't want our dance program to be a less good version of what can be seen indoors," Mr. Rivel said. "We want this to be what can really only be performed outdoors; it's a different kind of experience."