With names like "Run for Your Wife" and "Wife Begins at Forty," Cooney's plays are ready to pratfall easily into the puddle of "take my wife, please..." humor or to lollygag about the "garters-'n-boxers" school of comedy à la Benny Hill (where nothing is funnier than a dropped pair of drawers). Ho

Clown, Commedia dell'arte, Funny, Physical force, Physical theater, Playful, Profane

In the mid-'80s, Pina Bausch's Dance Theater Wuppertal, from Germany, began to make a racket on the international scene with exhaustive, often violent forays into sex and gender. One person paying special attention was Lloyd Newson. Unhappy with the way dance emphasized technique at the cost of meani

Athleticism, Body politic/identity dance, Homoerotic, In-your-face, Masculine, Phallic, Physical force

Enrico Cecchetti was literally born into dance: he came into this world in a theater dressing room, only to make his stage debut moments later as an infant in his father's arms. In the 78 years to follow, Cecchetti never left the dance world. Despite his great talent and importance, Cecchetti did

Classical, Composed, Grand, Physical force, Romantic ballet

Elizabeth Streb is an extreme dancer. In her incredibly athletic works, dancers swan-dive from scaffolding, hurl themselves against primary-colored walls, and bounce vigorously on trampolines. This recipient of the 1997 MacArthur genius award describes her ideal move as "dangerous, hard, fast, wild,

Athleticism, Event, Implosive, Kinetic, Physical force