On-stage: How men act, in dance

Cade Holmseth is a young, straight, white male dancer "absolutely confused about what's expected of me by women," he said in a recent phone interview. He grew up in Mankato, Minn., "where everyone drinks, no one shows their emotions and even the women are tough." And since coming to the Twin Cities to earn his bachelor's degree in dance from the University of Minnesota, he's felt besieged by "conflicting messages about how to behave." So he made a male quartet about that confusion, "Le Regard Feminin: Quatro Uomi," that explores ways in which "men think or act differently when they feel they are being watched by women." Composed of small segments using spoken and recorded text, everyday gesture, modern dance and taped music, Holmseth says the work will appeal to his Mankato home boys as well as his dance pals, "because even if you don't get one section, you might find the next one very humorous."