There’s a clear parallel between Francesca Jandasek Acayan’s multimedia dance piece, Ellesmere, and Helmut Newton’s semicontroversial 1995 fashion shoot for Vogue: Both works feature women bound to orthopedic devices and crackle with a transgressive sexual energy. According to Acayan, Ellesmere “explores the evolution of a community dealing with and reacting to change,” but, like the best of Newton’s work, it also provides potent commentary on how we interpret beauty and the sometimes ridiculous lengths we go to attain it. Acayan’s choreography—particularly when it pertains to the movements of the dancers with stilts and arm braces—offers a collision of raw physicality and subtle footwork. And the physical handicaps Acayan has mapped out for her troupe are a total mind-bender. Expect a direct reprisal of the work that premiered on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in October 2006; though most choreographers actively avoid repeating themselves, this delightfully off-kilter piece demands a return engagement. The performances begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, at Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE. $22. (202) 269-1600.