This disc is 70 minutes long, and Elephant Man is ruthless in his pursuit of dance-floor mayhem: the hoarse vocals and gleefully outré electronic "riddims" never let up; he calls out one absurd hook (often linked to a particular dance move) after another.
Knowing eyes may roll, too, at the idea that all this toil and exhausting concentration are being expended in pursuit of yet another dance to "The Rite of Spring".
He was similarly methodical in his pursuit of romance, taking dance lessons with his sister, and then traveling with her on the Saturday-night circuit until, at an Elks Club in Elizabeth, he finally found the one woman with whom, he said, "everything clicked".
Speaking of kids and presidential candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy, father of four, may be wishing that the socio-professional life of his eldest, Pierre, ran to the more Romneyesque pursuits of church dances, chocolate milkshakes, and hedge funds.
The ballerina role, with which Ms. Tharp suggests the pursuit of perfection, is lyrically danced by Mary Ellen Beaudreau, and the other dancers convey the cumulative thrill of stylistic fusion as ballet and popular dance and urban behavior all start to mesh into a utopian whole.
Some are frolicking in sexual pursuit of one another; others simply dance.
So, what do young people, currently 17, think about that age-old pursuit of lugging oneself around a dance floor in an inebriated state?
After George Balanchine chose her to join New York City Ballet, where she danced for six years, she defected to American Ballet Theater in pursuit of classical roles and the chance to dance with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
