Collaborative Choreography

In 1971, four Dartmouth College undergraduates on a lark took a course in modern dance. That act changed their lives and the course of dance history.

Combining acrobatics, athletics and gymnastics with dance, they forged what soon became the signature choreographic style of Pilobolus Dance Theatre--a zany, witty, sly style based on the body as sculpture.

Audiences were entranced, and Pilobolus, which comes to the Irvine Barclay Theatre this week, flourished.

Some people dissented, however, questioning whether what Pilobolus was doing was dance at all. Even esteemed New Yorker dance critic Arlene Croce, an eloquent admirer, called the troupe “a company of acrobatic mimes rather than dancers.”

But another question hung in the air. Could Pilobolus choreograph work that wasn’t merely whimsical or fanciful, however captivating it was?

It faced the challenge when company dancer Jim Blanc died of complications from AIDS in 1996. In response, Pilobolus created “Gnomen,” part of the repertory on the current tour, in its friend’s memory a year later.

“The dancer is lost, the dance is found,” Michael Tracy said in a recent phone interview from the company’s studios in Connecticut. Tracy, one of Pilobolus’ four artistic directors, joined the company in 1974.

“[Blanc’s] death was a big tragedy for us. He was a wonderful man and a great dancer. He had been with us probably for five years. He was fairly young, in his 30s. You can imagine what sort of feelings the people in the company have about him.”

Stripping everything to essentials, the company created the work for four men to evoke its origins, when there were no women in the troupe.

“It’s . . . where we came from,” Tracy said. “This was the first piece in a long while that was just with the men.”

The piece uses music by Paul Sullivan, who has composed 14 scores for Pilobolus since 1980.

Of course, it remains rooted in the distinctly recognizable Pilobolus style.

“As serious as it is, there is also some humor in it,” Tracy said. “Jim had a sense of humor. That’s something we shared with him. Hopefully, that also appears in the piece.”

“Gnomen” was choreographed collaboratively, as is the case with all of the company’s creations.

That means that all four artistic directors (besides Tracy, Robby Barnett, Alison Chase and Jonathan Wolken) can work alone or together with any or all of the six dancers (Otis Cook, Josie Coyoc, Renee Jaworski, Matt Kent, Gaspard Louis and Benjamin Pring) who bring their own creativity to the process.

“We do an experimental period when we look for certain ideas and movement,” Tracy said. “Then, as time permits, we go into a process of refinement and culling and deciding what the piece should be about.”

But the work is never about one thing.

“We purposefully make things ambiguous, not because we can’t decide on a single way. We find there is an interesting duality and multiplicity even in daily life, and we don’t want to lose that.

“The audience may see one thing and the choreographer may see something else. That’s an OK thing for us. We don’t mind that.”

In addition to “Gnomen,” the company will dance “Tsu-Ku-Tsu,” to music by taiko drummer Leonard Eto, and “Femme Noire” and “Aeros” (music for both pieces by Sullivan).

Pilobolus, which returns to the Southland in February, appearing at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Pepperdine University in Malibu, UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego, is constantly creating new work. A piece has been commissioned for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

They never seem to run out of ideas. Maybe that’s why, while other companies have flourished only to decline and die, Pilobolus has survived and even expanded. It now has a smaller, secondary company (called Pilobolus, Too) and a teaching institute.

Its budget has grown to more than $1 million, raised mostly through ticket sales.

“People have the impression--misperception--that many arts groups survive only by virtue of government grants,” Tracy said. “It’s not true at all.

“Most of the grants are not that large, generally speaking. In our case, they amount to a small part of our annual budget. They’re very important because they support new work, and we’re very grateful for them. But that’s not what we live on.

“We do about 100 to 150 performances a year, touring 25 or 40 weeks a year, nationally and internationally. That’s a lot more touring than many other companies do, but it means a full-time job for the dancers.”

*

Chris Pasles can be reached at (714) 966-5602 or by e-mail at chris.pasles@latimes.com.

SHOW TIMES

Pilobolus will dance Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. $35 and $40. Student tickets are half price. (949) 854-4646.