'Fire' blazes along spiritual trail

By RACHEL KLINEDINST
and JEANNE COHEN
Collegian Arts Writers

Surrounded by the stark white walls and high windows of the University Baptist and Brethren Church, choreographer Tony Coray waves his hands and clears his throat, summoning the group of dancers and musicians around him to form a circle.

The chatter ceases, the bongo drums fall silent and the warm-up stretches come to an end as the performers gather together, joining hands.

"In a circle everyone can see everyone else," Coray explains to them. "Each person's point of view is slightly different, but every one is equally important."

Such group discussions are a regular part of rehearsals for the show Fire Remembers, a dance performance sponsored by the Pennsylvania Dance Theater. The performance features San Francisco-based Coray as a guest choreographer and will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday at the church, 411 S. Burrowes St.

Ann Van Kuren, artistic director of PDT, describes Coray's work as site-specific, taking advantage of the unique space and spiritual atmosphere available in a church.

"His ideas and the concepts of the piece were inspired by the atmosphere and beauty of the church," she noted. "It's the idea that churches are places of ritual and places where the community comes together in a spiritual way."

The performance demonstrates this concept of community by bringing together not only members of the PDT's professional dance company, or "tribe," but also State College residents and University students. In all, Van Kuren said about 25 people joined together to compose the music, design the scenery and costumes, and organize the movements that are included in the piece.

"Because I'm young it's a great way to express myself without all the junior high bullshit. Working with all the people has been great," said Andy Weigl, an eighth-grade student at State College Area Junior High School and a tribe member.

Barbara Hess, a singer in the tribe, said the experience was like going back to the sense of spirituality and community that she remembers from the 1960s.

Although the final performance will be the culmination of much community effort, it was the church itself, Coray maintains, that inspired the development of the show's themes.

Despite the influence of the church on the work, Coray said it is not a religious piece but rather more a spiritual one.

"It's about a return to the goddess-like, earth-centered spiritual values," he said.

Much of the inspiration for the work, Coray said, was derived from the witch burnings of medieval Europe.

It is about people who were persecuted for being different and original, Weigl explained.

And the performers themselves can all relate to the persecution that they are portraying.

"The people involved in the performance are outside general OK society, and are probably the people who would have been burned at the stake," said Andy Mills (graduate-acoustics).

Susie Lovejoy (senior-psychology) agrees, pointing out the personal involvement that results from portraying such historical events.

"No one really talks about the witch burnings," she said. "People were being tortured and killed for being different and for practicing healing. You can feel it every time you move; you feel for all the people that were killed."