Watching the Repertory Dance Theatre rehearse Zvi Gotheiner's new work, "Glacier," is mesmerizing. A large barrel is on the studio floor. The dancers take turns dipping into the vessel and, after drawing out the unseen water, pour it over their hands.
The action is solemn, much like the Buddhist rituals that take place in the sacred temples of Japan.Gotheiner and composer Scott Killian, their backs to the mirrors, watch intently. So does RDT artistic director Linda C. Smith.
"I have been thinking about doing a piece about ice and water," Gotheiner said during a rehearsal break. "Last fall, Linda suggested I do it for this season."
The Repertory Dance Theatre will slide into its 1999-2000 season with a four-selection program called "Worldview III," which will run Friday-Saturday, Oct. 1-2, in the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Curtain for both performances is 8 p.m.
Tickets are $14, with a $2 discount for students and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased at all ArtTix outlets or by calling 801-355-ARTS (2787). Gotheiner's work will be the world premiere of the evening.
"With the success of Zvi's last work we did ('Chairs'), we wanted to continue working with him," Smith said. "This work focuses on moving not only RDT but civilization to the future. And we've developed a wonderful relationship with Zvi."
Gotheiner was born in Israel but is a permanent resident of the United States, and he has lived in New York since 1978. He first came to America on a dance scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and studied at the schools of Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham.
He's the director of ZGD Inc., which oversees Zvi Gotheiner & Dancers in New York and is the recipient of the National Arts Club's "Weiselberg Award" and an artists fellowship in choreography from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1991. Gotheiner has set works on Zurich Tanz Theatre, Elisa King & Dancers, Young Soon Kim and the Colloquium Contemporary Dance Company.
"Glacier" wraps up a trilogy of elemental works that RDT has staged. The other two were Gotheiner's "Erosion," his ode to the red rocks of Southern Utah, and Shapirio & Smith's "Turf."
" 'Glacier' is a bit darker, more on the lines of 'Chairs,' " said Gotheiner. "It's about a society under stress. The idea of a growing population with diminishing resources to partake of is just frightening. I wanted to bring elements of that stress to the work, and I wanted to find a way to bring that tension out."
Incidentally, Killian, who wrote the music for "Glacier," also wrote the score for the other two works. But "Glacier" was a bit more immediate; he had to finish the score in less than a week. And he focused on the dance's underlying theme -- human existence.
"Water is like blood," Killian said. "We need it to survive. It is a substantial element. I like to think of the work as a study of how nature has served humanity, but now, humanity must serve nature in order to survive."
Along those lines, Killian's score is driving at times, with spiritual strains.
The other works presented during "Worldview III" pay tribute to the past.
RDT will dip into its repertoire and present Doris Humphrey's 1952 work, "Fantasy & Fugue," highlighted by the music of Mozart. Next on the list is Helen Tamiris' "Dance for Walt Whitman," which was inspired by Whitman's poetry. The work premiered in 1958.
The last revival is actually the oldest. Valerie Bettis' "Desperate Heart," based on a poem by John Malcolm, was choreographed in 1943. After debuting in New York that same year, it was touted by critics as one of the outstanding solo works of modern dance during the 1940s.
"This is our last season in this millennium," Smith said. "Going into a new era like this is like jumping off a cliff. But we look forward to the future with our eye on the past 100 years. And what better way to start this season than with some groundbreaking works of the past and a new work for the future."