Keigwin on the Canvas

Local choreographer gets busy at the Joyce Theater

New York native, Larry Keigwin stretches himself as a choreographer. In the 10 years since he founded Keigwin +Company, he has staged Fashion Weeks's opening event, "Fashion's Night Out: The Show," won awards for his choreography for the off Broadway productions of Rent and The Wild Party, worked with the Radio City Rockettes, and made the fabulous "Bolero," for 10 trained dancers and 50-75 ordinary people, which has been a huge success at theaters all over the country. He enjoys working with pros as much as on community projects. In March, he makes his Broadway choreographic debut, with the show, If/Then, starring Idina Menzel and LaChanze. At the same time, he has managed to direct one of the most exciting and entertaining dance companies around.

"I'm always ready to branch off and explore," he says in a recent phone call. "I'm interested in all different forms of theater, and working with all kinds of performers."

Keigwin + Company comes to the Joyce Theater October 29-November 3, with an engrossing and varied program, featuring "Canvas," a dance exploring and contrasting balletic and contemporary styles, set to a cinematic score by Adam Crystal. Opening night it will be performed by his troupe and the New York City Ballet dancers, Tiler Peck, Robbie Fairchild, Daniel Ulbricht and Lauren Lovette. "Girls," a female trio, to Frank Sinatra songs, and two older, delightfully playful and poignant works, "Natural Selection" to music by Michael Gordon and "Mattress Suite," set to Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," Verdi's "La Traviata, and "At Last," sung by Etta James, complete the line up.

"Canvas" grew out of his residency at the Vail International Dance Festival in 2010, and the support of the director Damian Woetzel. A dazzling work, it showcases his formidable talents as a constructor of complex and dynamic spatial designs and his genius at showcasing the talents of his remarkable dancers. He describes his technique as, "assembling a collage." Though it garnered praise from critics and cheers from the audience at its premiere at Vail last summer, he promises that it will look even better at the Joyce. "We'll have shimmery curtains in gold, red, purple and blue, and the dancers will play in and out of them," he says. "It will have lots more pizzazz." Pizzazz is something you can always count on at a Keigwin performance.

Larry Keigwin appears at the Joyce Theater Oct. 29-Nov. 3