Where no dance has gone before

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Caregivers from local area hospices will be taking part in a multimedia dance/theater work entitled "Out of This World: The Life After Life Project."

This delve into the ideas of death, loss and the afterlife is based on the lives and experiences of members of Tucson's health-care community, who actually take part in the dance/theater aspect.

"The work is inspired by life - life situations, life events," says Pimsler.

Most of the caregivers are from hospices and freely shared their stories of the joy and sorrow of relating to patients, as well as the emotional strength they need to cope with death on a daily basis. Pimsler and Suzanne Costello, co-directors of the production, found cast members through a workshop titled "Caring for the Caregiver." This workshop allows caregivers to have an outlet for support for their jobs. Though most cast members have never been on stage before, Pimsler "hopes the audience is deeply moved by the genuineness in which it is presented."

The multimedia aspect comes in with a video, shot by Al Laus and Jimmy Dutt, of Ohio train tracks in a snowfall. The symbolism comes in to give the piece context: taking a journey through life and death.

Ingram Marshall created the original score. His music will be performed by the Tucson Arizona Boy's Choir, soprano vocalist Madeline Rivera, the Heavy Metal Brass Quintet and the Mariachi Luz de Luna. Marshall says that he "did not want to write anything overt." The music tries to combine the serious topics of death and loss that caregivers have to face every day, along with the joy and irony that comes with such experiences. The Arizona Boy's Choir adds an ethereal quality, while the Heavy Metal Brass Quintet, composed of two trombones, two trumpets and a French horn, provides a somber, almost centurion overtone.

The project has received a $115,000 grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Arts Partners Program, which is administered by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.

After Tucson, "Out Of This World" will travel to Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; and New York City, where new performances will be created reflecting each city's outlook on death and afterlife. The music will be performed by local groups from each area, with new cast members culled from each local community's health-care community.

Tickets for Saturday's show, which begins at 8 p.m., are $20, half-price for students and children, discounted for faculty and staff. There will also be a free arts "encounter" discussion 45 minutes before the show, in the Douglass Building, Room 101. Call Centennial Hall (621-3341) for more information.