Camille A. Brown and Dancers at the Joyce Theater The best that can be said about an evening spent with the choreographer Camille A. Brown is that she knows how to hold an audience in the palm of her hand. This is formulaic choreography made for an easy response. Ms. Brown's expertise is the dance skit: solos that tell stories through a measured combination of slow-and-sharp movements and song lyrics. Camille A. Brown & Dancers A scene from "Mr. TOL E. RAncE: Part 1," performed at the Joyce Theater. Over the weekend at the Joyce Theater, Ms. Brown presented her company in six works. There were guest artists - Christopher Huggins and the always spellbinding Matthew Rushing in "The Groove to Nobody's Business" (2007) - but nothing new from Ms. Brown, aside from an excerpted preview of her coming work "Mr. TOL E. RAncE: Part 1," a collaboration with J. Michael Kinsey that uses the clichés of minstrel shows to explore stereotypes of how blacks are treated in the media and society. At this early stage the piece was cluttered, with acting and writing that veered toward the amateur, particularly in the sketch "Name That Negro," in which contestants vied for street credibility and opportunities "to be over-sexualized in the media." Next year the piece will be performed at the Kitchen. While hardly the haven of experimentation that it once was, it is still a mystifying choice for such conventional work. As usual, it was Ms. Brown's solo, set to "What a Wonderful World," that had the most bite. With her impeccable timing, she infused the familiar melody with sharp jabs of her limbs that bordered on manic. It was absorbing to study her depth of muscular control, but the solo also pointed out her weakness for sentimentality. Ms. Brown is much better at humor. The bright spot was an appearance by Carmen de Lavallade, performing "The Creation: Plus 40," a 1972 solo by her husband, Geoffrey Holder. Reinterpreted by Ms. de Lavallade, the piece tells the story of creation through a poem by James Weldon Johnson. In a brilliant red dress Ms. de Lavallade sat on a stool with her back to the audience as her fingers drummed her knees with slight impatience. Sighing wearily, she turned and said: "I'm lonely. I'll make me a world. Though horribly miked, she gave the words an intimate, folksy feel, which contrasted with the delicate articulation of her elegant fingers and supple shoulders. It was stirring and subtle, and the world is a better place for having her in it.