Once a year, thousands of beach lovers and dance lovers or both take the ferry from lower Manhattan out into what feels like pure ocean, the chill wind whipping through summer clothes, to Far Rockaway for the Beach Sessions, where beach party meets serious art. The yearly commission seems to arise from the sand and ocean themselves, with the supreme edict, “Make it about us.” For 11 years, such New York dance luminaries as Sarah Michelson, Madeleine Hollander, and Faye Driscoll have smartly complied. This summer’s commission goes to Kim Brandt, who has set work in cemeteries and crowded art galleries, responding sensitively to the given locale with a minimalist palette and a loose ensemble of dancers. For the Beach Sessions, her inspiration is the horizon line—as sharp as a razor out at Far Rockaway. —Apollinaire Scherr