Works by Peter Quanz and Jodie Gates at Gotham Dance Festival The mixed bill presented during the Gotham Dance Festival at the Joyce Theater this past weekend was a kind of three for two. The program was organized around the work of two freelance choreographers, Peter Quanz and Jodie Gates, but three companies performed. Erin Baiano for The New York Times Q Dance: Amanda Green and Tristan Dobrowney in Peter Quanz's "Luminous," part of a bill with Jodie Gates at the Gotham Dance Festival. Taking on Mr. Quanz's two pieces was his own Q Dance, an ensemble from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. A handpicked group usually serves a choreographer's vision best. But throughout Mr. Quanz's "In Tandem" (2009), the manner of these dancers - unconvincing in its affected attitudes - actually distracts from the merits, which include a clever use of the stage, with bodies and body parts (legs, torsos) leaning in from the wings. Though the gears of "In Tandem" never quite engage with the musical motor of Steve Reich's "Double Sextet," the dance is intelligently constructed. That's even truer of Mr. Quanz's "Luminous," the most cogently designed dance on the program. He made it for the Hong Kong Ballet, which will perform it July 18 to 22 at Jacob's Pillow, where the Royal Winnipeg performs "In Tandem" from August 1 to 5. Here, as in "In Tandem," a chain of duets in which one partner replaces another suggests the fickleness of love. But each duet is differentiated and Mr. Quanz develops his material so that the repetitions and variations feel significant. The dancers may wobble, as if on a balance beam, yet that's a motif. Mr. Quanz's structure is solid. In Ms. Gates's "Delicate Balance," by contrast, much of interest passes before your eye, but in a jumble. The music is a pretentious jumble: a little Arvo Pärt, a little Henryk Gorecki. The dancers of BalletX, from Philadelphia, look sleek, if also straitjacketed, in a style derived from William Forsythe, a mentor to Ms. Gates. When the dance does focus on one couple (the impressive William Cannon and Chloe Felesina), it turns sappy. Ms. Gates's "Embellish" is strikingly different, a neo-Classical ballet set to Mozart selections. The claps and arm-twirling flourishes of a magician give the classical steps an aura of court magic, and people keep appearing and disappearing, thanks to a black curtain at the rear of the stage. Without being distinctive or particularly thoughtful - why this Mozart, in this order? - the choreography is fluent and theatrically savvy. It makes the dancers, here of the Colorado Ballet, especially the men, look well schooled and attractive. Mr. Quanz's selections give a sense of a craftsman with a developing voice. Ms. Gates's demonstrate why companies hire her. The Gotham Dance Festival continues through Sunday at the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea; (212) 242-0800; joyce.org.