'Collaboration! Dance and Music 2005'

Fri/16-Sun/18, Cowell Theater

EVERY ONCE IN a while dance proclaims its independence from music, but most choreographers (and audiences) feel there is something to the symbiosis that historically has existed between the two arts. Balanchine famously proclaimed that if you didn't like the dance you could always close your eyes and just listen to the music. Mark Morris would certainly agree. Yet the relationship between music and dance is more complicated. It's not uncommon, however, to wonder what on earth had made a choreographer choose a particular score, or to wince at how existing music has been "abused." None of these issues will arise while you watch "Collaboration," a previously Marin-based, community-type event at which professionals and amateurs are mixed helter-skelter. Here, the composer and the choreographer choose each other; they know exactly what they are in for. In the past this connection has been "Collaboration" 's most intriguing part. This year's move to the Cowell Theater raises the ante for the performances and the 11 choreographer-composer couplings. All music will be live. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF. $15-$20. (415) 899-7493, (415) 345-7575, www.collaborationdancemusic.org. (Rita Felciano)