The show, which plays Thursday and Friday, is a collaborative effort of choreographer Maida Withers and artists from around the world. Professor David Liban, director of GW’s Electronic Media Program, helped create and edit computer animation in the production.

The performance charts the journey of the Earth’s auroras from the sun to the atmosphere. The northern and southern lights have always been one of the mysteries of the cosmos, and Aurora/2001 takes the audience on a multifaceted voyage of dance and images in order to understand the mysterious patterns in the sky. Utilizing the latest computer animation technology, the performance becomes a truly innovative production.

Withers, a dance professor at GW, is also the founder and artistic director of the Maida Withers Dance Construction Company, which has produced ground-breaking dance performance pieces since 1974. With an emphasis on modern dance, Withers formed the company as a way to “construct events, not choreography.”

Withers’ work revolves around her interest in the link between art and ecology, and she first turned her attention to the mysteries of the aurora when it was used as the symbol for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994. As a result, Withers traveled to Norway to understand the myths of the northern lights and conduct research for her latest project, Aurora/2001.

Many of Withers’ past projects center on the fusion of dance, technology and nature, so it is only fitting that Aurora/2001 incorporates intricate computer-generated images into the performance. Brazilian computer artist Tania Fraga designed the vivid images of the auroras as they travel from electromagnetic waves in space to dancing waves of fire in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“The technology is creating a new mythology,” said Withers, who praised the talent and artistry of Fraga.

The computer images provide a backdrop for dancers as they perform onstage in flowing costumes of raw silk, similar to the movements of an aurora. Each act showcases original music by Norwegian composer Oystein Sevag. Withers describes the performance as a combination of abstract art and science.

Improvisation is a key element in Aurora/2001. Dancer and GW professor Joseph Mills improvises the choreography in the opening scene, and images controlled by a computer mouse correspond to his movements. With only a script and no sheet music to read, the musicians also have the ability to improvise by following action on stage. The collaboration creates a rare interaction of dancers, images and musicians on stage.

Withers lends the success of her newest collaboration to the international artists she works with as project director and choreographer of Aurora/2001. In addition to Fraga and Sevag, dancers from the United States, Russia, Poland and 10 dancers from GW bring their talent to the performance. Although she experiences some challenges working on such an international effort, such as the language barrier, Withers said she can identify with the dancers.

“They are this dance, the dance is them,” Withers said.

The biggest star of Aurora/2001 is not dancers, music or technology, but the sun itself. The performance explores the contemporary relationship between man and the sun. Images for the performance include shots from four orbiting satellites provided by NASA, the European Space Agency, Lockheed Martin and other scientific institutions. The images show auroras created by the sun, which is displayed through dancers’ interpretations as the narration unfolds.

Past civilizations regarded the sun as an elusive object in the sky, often treating it as a god. As science and technology evolved, the sun has been reduced to an ordinary object that no longer exhibits the mystery it once had. Withers said she hopes Aurora/2001 will restore the wonder of the sun and the beautiful auroras that dance across the skies near the poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.

“Aurora/2001 is a tribute to the sun,” said Withers, explaining why she felt students should see the performance.