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The Goethe Institut continues to spice up contemporary dance in the region, showing us new possibilities of what can be considered dance. Besides the upcoming website TanzConnexions, it's hosting a visit by

 experimental dancer Xavier Le Roy of Berlin, whose intellectual concepts are more important than physical technique.

At the institute's headquarters in Jakarta next Saturday, Le Roy will stage the lecture-performance "Product of Circumstances", exploring notions of self and paradoxes in art and science. He has a PhD in molecular and cellular science.

At Singapore's Esplanade Theatre Studio on October 16, Le Roy will conduct the audience as a symphony orchestra in "Le Sacre du Printemps", with the help of nifty acoustics and the Berlin Philharmonic's recording of Stravinsky classic.

Finally, on October 20, Le Roy will make his much-awaited Bangkok debut with his signature work "Self-Unfinished".

Born in France, he'll be co-hosted here by the Alliance Francaise.

In an all-white space with just a table and chair and no music, Le Roy will tackle the dance dilemma of "to have" or "to be" a body.

"The main section of the piece relates to the unsettling shapes that the body can form," the Observer noted when it was staged in London earlier this year.

"Imagine a naked man halfway through a somersault, so that his head is invisible and his back is facing you, topped by his buttocks, which in the case of Le Roy are narrow and bony, like a frog's. The result is a phallic column of flesh, apparently supported by spindly little chicken-wing legs."

Professional Thai dancers and choreographers can sign up for Le Roy's workshop the next morning.

Sheer physics

>> See "Self-Unfinished" on October 20 at 7.30pm in the Alliance Francaise auditorium on South Sathorn Road.

>> Get seats for Bt400 - or Bt250 for members and students - via (02) 670 4231.

>> The workshop is limited to 30 participants. E-mail Kannikar.Saengsuwan@bangkok.goethe.org or call (02) 287 0942, extension 80.

>> For more on Le Roy, visit www.InsituProductions.net.