Bodiography to premiere 'HEART: function versus emotion'

Photo by Eric Rose

In anticipation of their upcoming show, participants of the Heart ballet continue collaboration that extends far beyond the world of dance.

Included in this unique group of performers are Bodiography Contemporary Ballet dancers, musical group Cello Fury, UPMC doctors, Dr. Kormos and Dr. McNamara, and six of their heart patients.

Inspired by the artistic nature of the human heart, healthy and diseased, Artistic Director Maria Caruso has been working for months to create work that accurately identifies with the physical and emotional components of the subject matter.  

In doing so, the outcome of the dance will be one of which she has never created, one usually reserved for modern dance as opposed to ballet.  In addition to the dancers and musicians filling the stage, six heart patients and two doctors will appear in the performance.  In order to give the doctors and the patients proper voice, Caruso believed that their participation in the actual show was essential.

UPMC heart surgeon, Dr. Kormos, has done a lot of lecturing and public speaking, so the stage does not frighten him.  He feels that there is creativity in surgery and that the motions involved are translatable to the stage.  He says: "There is a tremendous amount of choreography that goes into surgical planning...strategically placing people and doing controlled activities that follow a pattern and could be repeated."  Sound like choreography? Absolutely.  

The dancers as well as the patients have found the experience to be truly rewarding. Dancer Alex Salerno found her partner Pat Dippold to be very inspiring, and says that she wanted "to convey her story through dance."  

Dippold, now 54, had a flu thirty years ago that settled into her heart.  When she found out years later that her heart was only functioning at five percent, she was listed for a transplant.  

After receiving a new heart on February 16, 2008, she feels great.  In speaking of her interaction with BCB, she says: "It is an honor to be associated with such talented and dedicated people."  She goes on to say that she knew nothing about dance.  "In fact, I am not even very coordinated, but I thoroughly enjoyed this experience."  

When asked what she would want people to know about her condition and heart disease in general, she quotes a saying she loves.  "Don't take your organs to heaven, God knows we could use them here."

HEART: function versus emotion premieres at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh on February 19th and 20th, 2010.  Tickets are available at www.pgharts.org or 412.456.6666.