MULTIMEDIA BALLET AS STATE OF THE ART

Joan of Arc stands at the stake in a state-of-the-art special-effects studio in Van Nuys. Crimson flames lap at her feet. Smoke engulfs her.

The fire is a film projection, the smoke is created by a fog machine, and St. Joan is dancer Linda Strangio-Hedberg rehearsing with the Bethune Ballet Theatredanse for its four-piece program Friday and Saturday at Bing Theatre, USC.

“We’re using fiber optics, holographs, a Solar 250--which is like a laser--film and video, and just about anything else you can think of,” says Zina Bethune, company director and choreographer of “The Trial of Saint Joan.”

Multimedia is indeed Bethune’s beat. In addition to the special effects, she’s collaborating with visual artists Kathy Jacobi and Robert Walker, who are creating scenery and costumes for her company. She has also drawn on literary sources for her company’s works, including George Bernard Shaw’s play “Saint Joan.” “I’ve always been interested in multimedia and I never understood why theater and dance should be separate,” Bethune says. “You should take advantage of the best tools available to tell your story.

“The tough part about that, when you’re using special effects, is finding a balance. You don’t want to overshadow the dance, yet you’re incorporating special effects within the dance so they become part of the story--which wouldn’t make sense without them.”

Bethune’s “Saint Joan” includes a duet in which Strangio-Hedberg dances with a 12-foot-high video projection of St. Joan’s envisioned helper, St. Michael. The latter is portrayed by company member Lawrence Blake whose video image is embellished by reverberating computer-generated wings.

“When you’re working this way, you really have to construct the piece by simultaneously blending in all the elements at once,” Bethune adds. “You can’t do what I call ‘lay-over art.’ ”

Bethune has been immersed in many media since she was 4. She appeared in her first play then--in between ballet lessons--and at 6, joined Balanchine’s New York City Ballet. Later, she split her time between that company and the set of television shows, including “The Nurses” series.

In the mid-’60s, Bethune had her first multimedia dance company in New York, and in 1982 founded Dance Outreach, an education and performance program for handicapped children. All proceeds from the Bing shows will benefit the nonprofit program.

Bethune’s work in Hollywood (she still acts occasionally) helped her secure the cooperation of special-effects technicians, led by Dean Sharits, and the use of their equipment. Tri Tronics Inc. and Disney studios provided most of the work space in which she coordinated and created her smoke, video and fire-filled scenes.

The special effects appear to satisfy Bethune creatively, but what about the dancers who have to work with them? Strangio-Hedberg, who danced with the National Theatre of Munich for 10 years, says they cause her “no problem whatsoever” in “Saint Joan.”

“In fact, being accustomed to dancing in classical ballets, it’s quite interesting,” she says. “The special effects help you along with your character development.”

Bethune acknowledges that “there’s every chance people might feel the effects are an intrusion on an art form. But I feel this is a way to make the dance more effective. Anything can look like the Conan the Barbarian show at Universal Studios, but given the context of the story of Saint Joan, I don’t think this will.

“I hope I’ve constructed the ballet in a way that makes you buy it. And if I haven’t, I’ll make it better next year! But that’s a choreographer’s job; we’re always changing and improving things. And that principle comes into play whether you’re dealing with smoke, film, special effects or a fifth position.”