As of late January, the Pilobolus Dance Company still hadn't come up with the name of its commissioned work for the 2002 Cultural Olympiad.
"The name will probably come the week of the performance," said Michael Tracy, choreographer for the new work and one of the artistic directors for the New York-based contemporary dance company. "That's usually the last thing that we worry about."
The Pilobolus Dance Company will perform in the Capitol Theatre on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 17, and in the George S. And Dolores Dor? Eccles Center for the Performing Arts in Park City on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Curtain for all performances is 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through all ArtTix outlets or by calling 355-ARTS.
During a telephone interview from his home on the East Coast, Tracy said the dancers of Pilobolus have something in common with the Olympic athletes ? they are all extremely physical. "Pilobolus is probably more atheletic, as opposed to, say, balletic. Our work is inspired by atheleticism, and I think it shows. It will defnintely show with the new work."
Tracy began thinking about creating a work for the 2002 Cultural Olympiad after Raymond T. Grant, SLOC's artistic director for the festival, commissioned the dance company to pose as the Olympic Rings in a poster. "We had met with Ray about doing a work last year. He has quite an interest in this dance company and is very vocal about his support. He also recognizes the artistry of this company and has expressed many times about the importance of the public seeing what we can do."
This is actually the third Olympics in which Pilobolus has participated. "Our first was back in 1980, at the Lake Placid Games," Tracy said. "It was a very inspiring time for me. I remember seeing some of the sport progams live. The memory of seeing all those athletes performing their trade and artistry live was amazing to see."
In 1996, the dance company was also part of the Atlanta Summer Games' Cultural Olympiad, Tracy said.
"Those peformances mean a lot to me," said Tracy. "I started out in sports before switching to dance. In fact, I didn't start dancing until I was in college at Dartmouth back in 1969. And what began happening was, I found myself connecting atheleticism with dance. And that was very satisfying to me."
While Tracy's creative process usually begins with just gathering together and making shapes with his body, he said he approached the choreography for the Salt Lake gig in a different manner. "It's unique in the fact that the people who will see this work are not part of the usual dance audience. Anything that has ties with the Olympics will carry it's own structure and expectations."
Tracy said there will be physicality and humor entertwined in the new work's movements, but it needs to be filled with emotion. "We had been commissioned to do the work before what happened on Sept. 11. And after that, I had to look at the work from a new perspective. Last year was a very tramatic year, and we would be irresponsible not to address some of the emotions from what has happened.
"Originally I started creating the work with a lot of fun in mind. I wanted it to be light. But now, I felt compelled to touch on the concerns that surround us all."
And this work has been 30 years in the making, Tracy said. "Pilobolus has been together for three decades. And each work we've done was done in the time it was meant to be.
"Some people will start thinking that after 30 years you run out of ideas, but if you keep an open mind, you find that there is inspiration through every-day events. And what happened last September is a good example."
E-mail: scott@desnews.com