Dancer Rennie McDougall gets things started in The Set Up.

When going to a free outdoor dance event, you don’t go expecting your school’s recital. Rather, you go expecting something rare and strange, yet intriguing and captivating. Wally Cardona and Jennifer Lacey’s “The Set Up” at the River to River Festival did not disappoint.

The first dancer, Rennie McDougall, wearing casual summer clothes, started dancing his way forward on the side of the audience, inconspicuously enough for no one to realize he had started until he reached the front. The audience members fell into a confused hush, shifting on the patches of grass they were sitting on and shushing their still-talking neighbors once they realized they were talking through the performance. Two other dancers, Jason Collins and Ingrid Kapteyn, joined him a short time later, all dancing on inclined grass against a backdrop of carefully arranged shrubs and the FDR Drive behind them. Dissonant horn music gradually began as the quartet, called The Guidonian Hand, worked their way toward the audience, their blowing more pronounced as the dancing picked up steam. The music, like the dancing, blended in to the surroundings of Pier 15 at first, though it all became increasingly prominent as the piece progressed.

By the end of the performance, it seemed more like a choreographed dance piece than a messy rehearsal that forgot to announce its beginning. As the dancing progressed, the choreography became more demanding, setting itself up for a satisfying and distinct conclusion. “The Set Up”  is a great way to spend a hot summer evening, and leaves just enough open to interpretation.