Performing Arts COMMON TIME: NEW JAZZ AND DANCE COLLABORATIONS DIANNE McINTYRE ENSEMBLE AND LESTER BOWIE'S BRASS FANTASY SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1999, 8 PM $21 (*$16) O'SHAUGHNESSY AUDITORIUM COLLEGE OF ST. CATHERINE 2004 RANDOLPH AVENUE, ST. PAUL TICKETS: 612.375.7622 or 651.690.6700 or Ticketmaster

This spring, the Walker Art Center commissions and presents COMMON TIME, a series of landmark collaborations involving leading-edge national jazz figures and important contemporary dance innovators. In past generations, it was virtually unthinkable to have a dance presentation without a live musical component. Over time, the vital link between dance and live jazz was severed, due in part to the elusive balance of collaboration and improvisation as well as the financial realities associated with touring. This was a particular loss for the creators, the performers, and perhaps most of all, the audiences. The artists in this series have been selected not just for the undeniable power and artistry of their work, but also for their proven abilities in fusing the once-inseparable collective energies that can exist between creative movement and live music. Coming in May: Urban Bush Women and The David Murry Octet. COPRESENTED WITH O'SHAUGHNESSY AUDITORIUM.

The world premiere of the Invincible Flower, co-commissioned by the Walker and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, unites award-winning choreographer Dianne McIntyre and her six-member company with vanguard jazz trumpeter-composer Lester Bowie and his irrepressible ten-member Brass Fantasy. This exhilarating evening of brass-based new jazz and contemporary dance draws on the rich spectrum of African-American cultural traditions. For more than 25 years McIntyre has melded structured dance and improvised music, consistently working with the most innovative voices in jazz. Consummate showman and "avant-pop" creator Bowie has long been at the forefront of jazz exploration and is a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The performance includes a solo by McIntyre and a joyously explosive set of music by Bowie and Brass Fantasy; it concludes with the 45-minute suite Invincible Flower.

*Walker members and O'Shaughnessy subscribers

COMMON TIME IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM THE DAYTON HUDSON FOUNDATION ON BEHALF OF DAYTON'S, MERVYN'S CALIFORNIA, AND TARGET STORES; AND THE DORIS DUKE FUND FOR JAZZ AND DANCE. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT IS PROVIDED BY THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION; THE NATIONAL DANCE PROJECT OF THE NEW ENGLAND FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS; THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS; AND THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS.