(Anne Shreffler/WNYC)

NEW YORK, NY July 18, 2008 —New Yorkers are discovering there is more than one green space in the city to catch an outdoor art performance. The Joyce Theater celebrates its 25th year by collaborating with the City Parks Foundation to bring three solo dance performances to each borough this week.

The first performance took place on Tuesday in East River Park, connected to the Lower East Side by a footbridge over the FDR roadway. Other performances run until this Sunday.

Part of the City Parks Foundation’s mission is to expose New Yorkers to a variety of city parks. In this performance, audience members are required to walk through the parks to view separate solo acts.

One dance is a lyrical feat of acrobatics on a solitary vertical pole. In another, audience members risk a soaking when the dancer’s choreography takes him through a children’s sprinkler. The most space is needed for the final performance, a passionate dance between a man and a five-ton back hoe.

The final dance perplexed and delighted Tuesday’s audience members.

“I would never, ever, ever think that someone could do art with a machine like that,” said Grammercy resident Denise Barbosa.

Schedule of performances
Watch the slideshow
More about City Parks Foundation Events

Other park to explore: Crotona Park