Keigwin + Company at the Joyce Theater this spring. (Photo: Andrea Mohin)

For their 2010 season at The Joyce Theater, Keigwin + Company provides provocative commentary on city life while still presenting accessible entertainment—their dances are quirky and full of wit.  Each piece has a one-word title and works off a simple, straightforward concept.  But the company’s style and innovation come from being able to revitalize old ideas, not necessarily create abstract or complex ones.

“Caffeinated” (2007) sets up a precedent for the rest of the program.  The dancers enter in a single file, jerking coffee cups, toward their face.  There is no clear narrative, per say, but the dancers’ repetition of over-energized, stiff, almost robotic movements makes for an unnerving, yet comical, social statement on the urban lifestyle.  While the dancers sport variations of gym gear, creating a sense of individuality, by following the same progression of movements, they all need caffeine to get through the day.

Keigwin’s ability to give new energy to simple, often overworked concepts shines in “Mattress Suite,” six different dances strung together into a tale covering several romantic relationships.  In “Dress” (2003), Nicole Wolcott anxiously waits for her bridegroom—a similar state of mind Keigwin expresses in “Tuxedo” (2003).  But the clichéd premise is enlivened when, against the backdrop of Giuseppe Giordani’s emotional and operatic “Caro Mio Ben,” he begins to interject some slow-motion hip thrusts.  The two knock down premarital walls, symbolized by a mattress at the center of the stage, in the intimate “Straight Duet” (2003).  But soon enough, Keigwin leaves the relationship to couple with two other men clad in white briefs (Aaron Carr and Matthew Baker) for “Three Ways” (2004).  Keigwin has the astute theatrical sense.

As its title suggests, “Runaway” (2008) skillfully reconstructs a runway show.  Against an urban brick backdrop, the women, clad in highlighter-color sleeveless dresses, and the men, in thin ties and suits, walk barefoot along a grid pattern.  All the dancers eventually leave and, by the time they return to the stage, have taken off articles of clothing and the mannequin-like women are carried off in the arms of men.

Keigwin + Company don’t take themselves seriously enough to demand that the audience have profound insight into their work in order to enjoy it.  Understanding the underlying social commentary is an extra plus because ultimately, the company’s dances are fun and entertaining.  Deviating from this trend is “Bird Watching,” making its world premiere, its subsections all titled with F-words: Flocking, Flapping, Fluttering, and Flying.  Set in a sort of ballroom with a chandelier hanging above, the dance centers on upper-crust birds dressed in glittering black tutus.  But “Bird Watching,” in trying to draw a comparison between humans and birds, lacks the distinct theatrical quality present in the other pieces.