On Saturday evening, I attended the Works & Process Series at the Guggenheim Museum where choreographers Larry Keigwin and Peter Quanz offered differing perspectives on the complex Pulitzer Prize winning score "Double Sextet" by composer Steve Reich.

The pieces were titled "In Tandem" by Quanz and "Sidewalk" by Keigwin. Quanz is a choreographer heavily influenced by ballet (having trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in Canada), and Keigwin is a compelling mix of modern and theatrics. The two pieces could not have been more different, from an actual dissection of the movement to the costumes. Quanz's work was mostly contemporary ballet and explored a unique vocabulary of classical sequences; Keigwin's was street inspired (hence its title "Sidewalk"), and offered revelatory stage translations of pedestrian movement. Quanz's performers (beautiful dancers from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet) wore decorated leotards and pointe shoes, while Keigwin + Company wore suites and sneakers.

However one thing stood in common, both choreographers utilized the space in an involved and thoughtful way: they were site-specific dances. It would be hard not to incorporate the space, the Peter B. Lewis Theater on the lower level of the Guggenheim is as stimulating as the building itself. It is circular (of course) and offers many aisles, ramps, railings and architectural features worth exploring. The intimacy and features of the space weighed heavily on the flow of the choreography. So what happens after the performances end, do these site-specific works become retired?