Angelin Preljocaj

In the police state where French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has re-imagined the world's most often told love story, a black-leather-clad guard stalks along a catwalk, with a guard dog by his side. Homeless men in rags tumble and spin; their ruling-class counterparts march stiffly, with an air of menace. And when poor Juliet inevitably awakens to find her lifeless Romeo, she does not weep: She draws his thumbs into her mouth.

It would be easy to see the U.S. premiere of Ballet Preljocaj's avant-garde production of "Snow White" ("Blanche Neige"), with music by Mahler, costumes by fashion legend Jean Paul Gaultier and a Thierry Leproust-designed set, as an attempt to capitalize on the current fascination with the darker take on traditional fairy tales that have been cropping up on TV sets and hitting theaters. The American premiere is this weekend at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, but the scheduling is a coincidence, says the artistic director and choreographer of the edgy French ballet company, Angelin Preljocaj.

One woman dreams of genteel romance. Another learns she will have a baby. Others participate in societal courtship rituals. And all of them, without exception, are big losers in the mating game: led blindly, hurled about, victimized by their illusions and ultimately abandoned. The dance-theater of modernist Angelin Preljocaj looks at women with a pitiless curiosity, asking provocative questions about their passivity and collaboration in their own oppression.

Short of seeing the actual delivery of a baby, few things capture the miracle of birth as does the sensational ending of French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj's new ballet, "Near Life Experience." Dancer Sebastien Durand rolls onto the floor from behind a large, blood-red ball of yarn, still covered in placenta-like material. He struggles to get up, slips a few times, but eventually rises to full height, thrusting his arms wide.

Movies A spurned high school admirer stalks four San Francisco women over Valentine's Day weekend in the thriller "Valentine," with Marley Shelton and David Boreanaz, above. Opens Friday in general release. * Also: "The Visit" stars Hill Harper as a young man, imprisoned for 25 years for a rape he insists he did not commit, struggling to establish a relationship with his family. With Billy Dee Williams, Phylicia Rashad, Rae Dawn Chong and Obba Babatunde.

Ballet Preljocaj, which danced a vivid reinterpretation of "Romeo and Juliet" last month in Los Angeles, comes to Irvine this week with an equally radical "Hommage aux Ballets Russes" program at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The title refers to Serge Diaghilev's famous company, which launched a revolution in dance in Paris in the early decades of this century.

Challenging himself by taking on two of the most formidable scores of the 20th century, French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj created a program of daring opposites at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Friday. To Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Helikopter," a startling end-of-century string quartet played (and recorded) inside four helicopters in flight, Preljocaj brought cool, postmodern abstraction coupled with visionary projection technology.

It would be easy to see the U.S. premiere of Ballet Preljocaj's avant-garde production of "Snow White" ("Blanche Neige"), with music by Mahler, costumes by fashion legend Jean Paul Gaultier and a Thierry Leproust-designed set, as an attempt to capitalize on the current fascination with the darker take on traditional fairy tales that have been cropping up on TV sets and hitting theaters. The American premiere is this weekend at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, but the scheduling is a coincidence, says the artistic director and choreographer of the edgy French ballet company, Angelin Preljocaj.

Quite apart from its other achievements, Angelin Preljocaj's "Paysage Apres la Bataille" (Landscape After the Battle) is arguably the most remarkable rock ballet ever choreographed: a spectacular ensemble showpiece that depicts dysfunctional relationships with the pitiless dexterity of Twyla Tharp's "Short Stories" or William Forsythe's "Love Songs," and then evolves over its unbroken 70 minutes into a sardonic neo-Expressionist action painting of Western culture at the end of the so-called

Short of seeing the actual delivery of a baby, few things capture the miracle of birth as does the sensational ending of French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj's new ballet, "Near Life Experience." Dancer Sebastien Durand rolls onto the floor from behind a large, blood-red ball of yarn, still covered in placenta-like material. He struggles to get up, slips a few times, but eventually rises to full height, thrusting his arms wide.

Challenging himself by taking on two of the most formidable scores of the 20th century, French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj created a program of daring opposites at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Friday. To Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Helikopter," a startling end-of-century string quartet played (and recorded) inside four helicopters in flight, Preljocaj brought cool, postmodern abstraction coupled with visionary projection technology.

Quite apart from its other achievements, Angelin Preljocaj's "Paysage Apres la Bataille" (Landscape After the Battle) is arguably the most remarkable rock ballet ever choreographed: a spectacular ensemble showpiece that depicts dysfunctional relationships with the pitiless dexterity of Twyla Tharp's "Short Stories" or William Forsythe's "Love Songs," and then evolves over its unbroken 70 minutes into a sardonic neo-Expressionist action painting of Western culture at the end of the so-called

Movies A spurned high school admirer stalks four San Francisco women over Valentine's Day weekend in the thriller "Valentine," with Marley Shelton and David Boreanaz, above. Opens Friday in general release. * Also: "The Visit" stars Hill Harper as a young man, imprisoned for 25 years for a rape he insists he did not commit, struggling to establish a relationship with his family. With Billy Dee Williams, Phylicia Rashad, Rae Dawn Chong and Obba Babatunde.

One woman dreams of genteel romance. Another learns she will have a baby. Others participate in societal courtship rituals. And all of them, without exception, are big losers in the mating game: led blindly, hurled about, victimized by their illusions and ultimately abandoned. The dance-theater of modernist Angelin Preljocaj looks at women with a pitiless curiosity, asking provocative questions about their passivity and collaboration in their own oppression.

Ballet Preljocaj, which danced a vivid reinterpretation of "Romeo and Juliet" last month in Los Angeles, comes to Irvine this week with an equally radical "Hommage aux Ballets Russes" program at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The title refers to Serge Diaghilev's famous company, which launched a revolution in dance in Paris in the early decades of this century.

In the police state where French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has re-imagined the world's most often told love story, a black-leather-clad guard stalks along a catwalk, with a guard dog by his side. Homeless men in rags tumble and spin; their ruling-class counterparts march stiffly, with an air of menace. And when poor Juliet inevitably awakens to find her lifeless Romeo, she does not weep: She draws his thumbs into her mouth.

A collaboration between superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Mark Morris Dance Group will highlight the 1998-99 Contemporary Dance Series presented by the Irvine Barclay Theatre. For the first time, the theater also will offer two or more performances of each company it presents. The season: * Oct. 6-7: Ballet Preljocaj from Aix-en-Provence, France. Company founder Angelin Preljocaj's "Le Spectre de la Rose," based upon the Fokine ballet of the same name, among other works.

Dance. France's Ballet Preljocaj dances Angelin Preljocaj's controversial, contemporary "Romeo and Juliet" (to Prokofiev) at 8 p.m. Sept. 17-19 in Royce Hall on the UCLA campus in Westwood. $11 (students)-$35. (310) 825-2101. * Theater. Jack Klugman headlines in the Arthur Miller classic "Death of a Salesman," opening Sept. 18 at the Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank, playing Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 3 p.m. through Oct. 25. $25. (818) 955-8101. * Film.