Die Beine

Something or someone’s got “legs.” It’s a turn of phrase that simply means a person or thing is worthy and has staying power. In that respect, Édouard Lock’s got legs. Otherwise, let’s just say that, on the surface, the topic of legs in dance can seem sexy, or sexist. Depends on your perspective. And I’m all too aware how any term can brand someone, particularly in the dance field.

Without wanting to incur misunderstandings that might wreak havoc on my commentary here, it’s prompt-ed me to draw a line in the proverbial sand: no to sexism and the predatory, but let’s riff on versatile seductiveness.

Lock’s company, La La La Human Steps, got its start in the early 1980s, and is perhaps best known for its dance of physical extremes. But over these many years, his dances and shifting sensibility revel in our undivided attention. So do his dancers: Louise Lecavalier, La La La Human Steps’ definitive symbol and luminary for nearly two decades, is the prime example. She joined the company (then named Lock Danseurs) in 1981 for its production of “Oranges” and went on to perform in each of the company's subsequent productions – “Human Sex” (1985), “New Demons” (1987), “Infante c’est ...