Ron Smith and Jaret Hughes dance for the past and the present. Hughes’ group, Twisted Elegance, pays homage to the hip-hop music and style of the ’90s. Smith’s Throne Level ensemble stays true to more current styles like vogueing and street jazz. Together, these two have created an upbeat, lighthearted, and full-out urban dance show called Live in the Drum 3: A Night of Twisted Elegance. It’s impossible not to bounce in your seat when you see Smith’s gritty moves or Hughes hitting each “boom-kack” of the music with the precision of Janet and the flair of Michael. Smith has a knack for humorous vulgarity. In Throne Level, his dancers pull down their pants to reveal superhero-patterned underwear, only to start doing the dougie. Hughes, who was the first male dancer for the SuperSonics, asks that his dancers sport serious “fierce” faces while performing. If anything, his lightening-fast, energetic choreography requires a serious mind to keep track of what move comes next. Tonight should be like seeing America’s Best Dance Crew live, only in a more intimate venue. AARON GORDON

Fri., Jan. 6, 8 p.m., 2012