The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 94

CALENDAR NA E7 LOSANGELESTIMES Graceful and tough By Victoria Looseleaf Special to The Times In her camouflagecargo pants, muscle Tand with multiple piercings, dancer-choreographer Stephanie Gillilandlooks ready for combat. Or at least ready to assume her place at the forefront of the rough-and-tumble world of hyperphysical dance. Indeed, having founded the locally based contemporary troupe Tongue nearly eight years ago, Gilliland, 52, has not only rolled with the artistic punches, also been choreographing her own brand of iconoclastic dances for more than two decades. latest effort, tium evening-length reworking of a high-voltage piece from three years ago, opens tonight at Santa Highways Performance Spaceand runs through Saturday, repeating the following weekend. Inspired by a book on Sadhus(In- mystic holy men) and a fashion show by rapper-fashion mogul Sean aims to push the boundaries with athleticism, muscular partnering and inventive movement language.

Like Gilliland herself, who began studying ballet as a child only to rebel against convention, the work is an exercise in extremes. name of the piece is Latin and has something to do with two opposites resulting in a third thing that exists between those she says. exploring a pop cultural element like fashion, which is superficial and external, and the idea of meditation and ritual. also an intimacy that is the spiritual journey, but then the athletic moments explode behind something else own journey began in Hawaii, where she was born to amilitary family that moved frequently. Gilliland attended Colorado State University for several years before transferring to UC Riverside, where she graduated with a dance major in 1977.

That same year Gilliland co-founded Urban Sprawl Dance Artists, with the company moving to New York City, playing rock clubs and underground venues under the name the Edge Dance Theatre. Gilliland left the city in 1981 and soon thereafter, she says, had an existential crisis while living in a Canadian commune. was then I realized my passion was to be a choreographer, to make dances, but in my own Returning to Los Angeles in 1982, Gilliland began teaching at UC Riverside, a gig that lasted 15 years. During that period Gilliland formed two companies (in 1982 and 1992) and also began exploring solo work. Making a name for herself, Gilliland earned two local Lester Horton awards for choreography, and, in addition to choreographing modern dance, she made works for opera, television and musical theater in the States and abroad.

When she lost her UC Riverside job in 1996, Gilliland was devastatedbut says it was a blessing in disguise. That blessing allowed Gilliland to create Tongue, a troupe that Times dance critic Lewis Segal said in visions of the liberated, fearless, articulate body, aiming for a physicality so free it verges on the Gilliland, who teaches at Idyllwild Arts Academy and recently received a second James Irvine Foundation grant, as well as a 2004 Creativity Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, stopped dancing two years ago because of a chronic ankle injury. It serves the work, she says, to step outside it, leaving her free to concentrate on her eight dancers. Rehearsing at Diavolo Dance industrial space at the Brewery, the devotion to crash-and-burn movement language is evident: Repeatedly hurling themselves to the floor in death-spiral fashion, the dancers, who range in age from 23 to 41, make thudding, thwacking noises with their bodies, creating a distinctive soundtrack. Lyrical passages abound, as well, with Robert cello score accompanying a trio of men donning jackets around their ankles before executing one-arm balancing poses and feral backbends.

Gilliland, who cites contact improvisation and Ashtanga yoga (a series of rapidly executed poses)as influences, coaches the kneepad- wearing performers as if she were a drill sergeant. Helping Gilliland is rehearsal director Holly Johnston. Now 30, been with Tongue since graduating in 1996 from Loyola Marymount University, where Gilliland was artist-in-residence for several years. There, Johnston teaches a free community class in technique. so committed to Johnston says, everything you see comes from such a deep Since its founding, Tongue has performed in dance festivals in Mexico and Canada and continues to gain statewide recognition.

Upcoming performances include Mount San Jacinto College at the end of October and a tour next spring with stops in San Francisco, Santa Barbara and San Diego. More important, Gilliland is pleased to finally be able to pay her dancers and focus on the future. a modest fee, but hey, paying them monthly. The vision for my Gilliland says, been a slow process, and our next step is to tour nationally. I have this idea where I want an original movement language, and the ability of my dancers to move from one place to another radically.

The only way they can do itis by doing This Tongue, in other words, continues to wag. Ken Hively Los Angeles Times HYPERPHYSICAL MOVEMENT: Stephanie troupe, Tongue, will perform which emphasizes athleticism, muscular partnering and inventive movement language. DANCE Stephanie choreography is physically demanding. Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Sept. 20-26) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 277.93 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 CSICBS30.57 2 CSI: MiamiCBS22.45 3 Without a TraceCBS21.51 4 ERNBC19.69 5 CSI: NYCBS19.26 --------------------------------------------6 Survivor: VanuatuCBS19.14 7 Law Order (9 p.m.)NBC18.86 8 Monday Night FootballABC18.81 9 LostABC18.65 10 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS17.99 --------------------------------------------11 Two and Half MenCBS16.44 12 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC16.43 13 Apprentice 2NBC15.88 14 Law OrderNBC15.39 15 Will GraceNBC15.32 --------------------------------------------16 JoeyNBC14.86 17 Law Order: SVUNBC14.20 18 NFL Monday ShowcaseABC13.91 19 of the Middle-Aged CBS13.77 20 Phil --------------------------------------------21 Amazing Race: 5CBS12.85 22 Law Order: Criminal Intent NBC12.67 23 Crossing JordanNBC12.55 24 Las VegasNBC12.08 25 Listen UpCBS11.75 --------------------------------------------26 60 MinutesCBS11.21 27 Still StandingCBS11.11 28 29 Wife SwapABC10.86 30 According to JimABC10.59 --------------------------------------------31 Big Brother 5: FinaleCBS10.54 32 NFL Sunday 33 JAGCBS9.95 34 RodneyABC9.92 Fear FactorNBC9.92 --------------------------------------------36 NYPD BlueABC9.68 37 Father of the PrideNBC9.51 38 My Wife and KidsABC9.35 39 Dr.

VegasCBS9.34 40 Third WatchNBC8.86 --------------------------------------------41 Clubhouse 42 Dateline: NBC 43 American DreamsNBC8.61 44 ScrubsNBC8.58 45 Joan of ArcadiaCBS8.47 --------------------------------------------46 Medical InvestigationNBC8.27 47 The BachelorABC8.19 48 Dateline NBC 49 LAXNBC7.92 50 Crimetime SaturdayCBS7.42 --------------------------------------------51 48 hours MysteryCBS7.40 52 HawaiiNBC7.38 53 Hope FaithABC7.12 54 55 7th HeavenWB6.64 --------------------------------------------56 Extreme Makeover ABC6.62 57 Law Order: SVU 58 Less Than PerfectABC6.56 59 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX6.43 Complete SavagesABC6.43 --------------------------------------------61 Primetime LiveABC6.41 62 Last Comic Standing 3NBC6.11 8 Simple Rules 64 SmallvilleWB6.07 65 Trading SpousesFOX6.06 66 Funniest Home Videos ABC6.05 67 Most WantedFOX6.02 68 Gilmore GirlsWB5.80 69 That ShowFOX5.64 70 EverwoodWB5.56 --------------------------------------------71 CopsFOX5.45 72 CharmedWB5.37 73 Bernie Mac Show (9:30 p.m.) FOX5.15 74 Bernie Mac ShowFOX5.14 75 Renovate My FamilyFOX5.10 --------------------------------------------76 One Tree HillWB4.92 77 Next Great ChampFOX4.74 78 QuintupletsFOX4.61 79 WWE 80 The BenefactorABC4.49 --------------------------------------------81 Survivor: Vanuatu 82 RebaWB4.35 83 North ShoreFOX4.07 84 MountainWB3.89 85 Law Order --------------------------------------------86 GirlfriendsUPN3.75 87 Rocks 88 Next Top Model 3 UPN3.62 89 Apprentice 2 90 The SimpsonsFOX3.50 --------------------------------------------91 Blue Collar TV 92 Half and HalfUPN3.34 Blue Collar TV 8:30 p.m.) WB3.34 94 Blue Collar TV 8 p.m.) WB3.28 95 One on OneUPN3.26 --------------------------------------------96 Jack BobbyWB3.25 97 Craziest VideosFOX3.18 98 Totally Outrageous Behavior FOX3.12 That ShowFOX3.12 100 Amish in the CityUPN2.91 --------------------------------------------101 Second Time AroundUPN2.86 102 EveUPN2.82 103 All of UsUPN2.73 104 Steve Big TimeWB2.72 105 O.C.: A Day in the LifeFOX2.70 --------------------------------------------106 Grounded for LifeWB2.67 107 What I Like About YouWB2.52 108 Veronica MarsUPN2.49 109 Complex: MalibuFOX2.33 110 Next Top Model 3 (Fri.) UPN1.86 --------------------------------------------111 Veronica Mars 112 Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Network Last week Season to date CBS13.5813.58 NBC10.6110.61 ABC10.0010.00 FOX5.345.34 WB4.244.24 UPN3.113.11 CBS may be struggling with a reporting scandal at but no controversy surrounding the prime-time ratings victory for the first week. As it so often does, CBS finished the week ending Sept. 26 with a clear lead among total viewers (13.6 million), easily beating NBC (10.6 million), ABC (10 million) and Fox (5.3 million), according to figures released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. But the network also logged its first September premiere week win since 1991 among viewers ages 18 to 49, the key demographic for advertisers.

a big switch from recent pattern of dominance among young adults. Leading the way for CBS were the two most-watched programs: season premiere of Crime Scene starring Marg Helgenberger and William Petersen (30.6 million viewers), and (22.4 million). And the Wednesday series premiere of the spinoff easily beat (19.3 million versus 15.4 million). All told, CBS had six of the top 10 most-watched shows and five of the top 10 in the 18-to-49 category. One of the few disappointments was premiere of the Rob Lowe drama (9.3 million), which ran a distant second to newsmagazine (11 million).

animated of the (9.5 million) watched its young-adult audience dip again last week, although the new drama (8.3 million) showed signs of life Friday. Meanwhile, Donald reality series hung tough Thursday against the onslaught, with its young- adult numbers holding up reasonably well opposite the popular crime drama. Long-struggling ABC got a welcome burst of good news from the Wednesday debut of the desert-island drama (18.6 million), the most- watched drama premiere in nine years. Fox, awaiting postseason baseball next week, was essentially out of the race, with not a single program in the top 30. On basic cable, NFL contest featuring Tampa Bay at Oakland gave ESPN the No.

1 program in total viewers (9.4 million) and ages18to49. Other prime-time standouts included Monday wrestling from WWE (4.6 million) and (3.7 million). Collins Ron P. Jaffe CBS THE ORIGINAL: with William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger. Crime scenes do pay With three sorts of to carry it to No.1, CBS incontestably leads the week.

Prime Time TV Rankings MARK S.ALLEN, UPN-TV HIS OVIE ULES MARIA SEEITNOW ATTHEATRES EVERYWHERE 10 TH A NNIVERSARY WO EEK IMITED NGAGEMENT TIM ROBBINS MORGANFREEMAN CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS TIM ROBBINS MORGAN FREEMAN SHAWSHANK GUNTON WILLIAM SADLER CLANCY BROWN GIL BELLOWS AND JAMES WHITMORE AS MUSIC BY THOMAS NEWMAN EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS LIZ GLOTZER AND DAVID LESTER BASED ON THE SHORT NOVEL HAYWORTH AND SHAWSHANK BY STEPHEN KING SCREENPLAY BY FRANK DARABONT PRODUCED BY NIKI MARVIN DIRECTED BY FRANK DARABONT SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE ON EPIC SOUNDTRAX OW HOWING I ELECT ITIES ONSULT OUR OCAL ISTINGS WNTHE PECIAL DITION DVD ON CTOBER 5 www.meancreekmovie.com PROVOCATIVE! A serious piece of work from a filmmaker of evident talent! A.O.Scott,THENEWYORKTIMES AREVELATION! An assured feature debut! With echoes of Deliverance and Edge Kenneth ANGELES TIMES A SENSATION! -Ruthe Stein, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE NOW PLAYING IN SELECT CITIES Discover the film that opens your eyes to new possibilities. Time To Get Wise! www.whatthebleep.com Sleeper are TIME MAGAZINE Sleeper are TIME MAGAZINE LOS ANGELES TIMES LOS ANGELES TIMES NOW PLAYING IN SELECT CITIES! A Latifah is hilarious! Curtis Waller MTV Radio NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE! What: The contemporary dance troupe performs Where: Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th Santa Monica When: 8:30 tonightthrough Saturday. Also 8:30 p.m. next Thursday through Oct. 9.

Price: $18 Contact: (310) 315-1459 Tongue 03ED147 Less sales call. More bird call. The new Outdoors. Every Tuesday. A AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A.