Cheek to cheek. (New York).

David Gordon and his wife, Valda Setterfield (above), are famously different: She does absurd things elegantly, and he does ordinary things absurdly. But their dancing together is heavenly--in a down-to-earth sort of way.

While rehearsing at Jacob's Pillow last summer Gordon found recordings of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in conversation, which he used as a soundtrack for a new segment of his Private Lives of Dancers. "It's about how their different senses of rhythm and phrasing come together when they dance together," says Gordon. Then he began a hunt for similar evidence of other performing-arts couples such as Toni Lander and Bruce Marks, and Eiko and Koma.

"When I go places to teach," says Gordon, "I notice that there is little attempt to teach partnering, or anything that tells students how to dance with each other. So people take class forever bumping into each other and not attending to the space they take up. When you get into a company, one of the first things you do is dance with people." You can see Gordon and Setterfield dance together with the Pick Up Company from February 18 to 23 at The Joyce Theater. To learn where Gordon will be teaching, call the Pick Up Company at 212/244-7622.