THERE aren’t a lot of men in Eliot Feld’s Mandance Project. Then again, there isn’t any ballet in his new “The Spaghetti Ballet,” either — though there is spaghetti.
Besides the noodles, Feld presented two other new works and one revival for Mandance, which for these performances was a group of three women and two men.
A pair of short, atmospheric works led off. “Radiance” is a new female solo for Ha-Chi Yu that was followed by “Proverb,” a male solo from 2004 danced by Wu-Kang Chen. Both dances have more mood than steps; Yu pushes against the air in wonderment and Chen operates small lights in the palms of his hands that flicker luminously like fireflies.
“The Spaghetti Ballet” is a parody of Italian spaghetti Westerns. As Feld said in an interview, “If it’s not funny, I’m in trouble.” He’s in trouble.
Yu spends much of her time on stilts, dreaming she was a badass hero in her Maidenform bra. She also plays a blind, starving heroine who nearly winds up as the pasta course. “The Spaghetti Ballet” has a creepy attitude toward Westerns, women and humor.
The piece could be saved if it were more focused, but meandering was a problem all evening. Even the short pieces were journeys with several detours and no destination. Feld has given up on dance steps and relies on theatrical effects.
The closer, “Dust,” set Chen among mounds of shredded newsprint in a mesh cage surrounded by fans. The noise of the fans competed with distant sirens as Chen labored pointlessly to gather the shreds into a pile. Just when you thought the piece was ending after going nowhere, whoosh! — the fans were turned on full blast, engulfing Chen in a stunning, existential tornado of paper.
A friend used to say that one great recipe in a cookbook was enough to make it worthwhile. In an entire evening at the Joyce, Feld gave us one phenomenal image, and maybe that was enough.
MANDANCE PROJECT Feld Ballet Tech at the Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave.; 212- 691-9740. Through Sunday.