The rumors of Emio Greco's death have been greatly exaggerated. Although the piece he's performing at On the Boards next week ("Rimasto Orfano") opens with the announcement, "Emio Greco is dead," the Italian choreographer is alive, kicking and creating beautiful dance.

As he explains it, having his "death" announced on stage allows Greco to emerge "more alive," and to perform "more intensely in the body." Apparently there's just something freeing about being presumed dead, even if it's all a mind game.

Greco is no stranger to experimenting with the mind-body connection. In fact, such explorations are integral to his dance philosophy. "The physical body is a limitation," he accedes, "But it's not clear exactly where those limits are — it may be that your way of thinking is limited."

Greco believes you can overcome these limitations by "getting in between the two realities of the body and the mind." In this murky nether-space, he explains, "Your mind can't interfere with the possibility of the body." (And, one would presume, vice versa).

Dance preview

Emio Greco / PC: "Rimasto Orfano," 8 p.m. Thursday-May 22, On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., Seattle; $22 (206-217-9888 or www.ontheboards.org).

So how do you wedge yourself in between the mind and the body? With a lot of sweat, it seems.

Local choreographer Allison Van Dyck of SOM Performance took an intensive workshop with Greco while on scholarship at the 2001 ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna, Austria. Working from 9-5 for eight days in a row, Greco had the dancers quite literally on their last legs.

Explaining that the class involved things like doing jumps for three hours straight, Van Dyck says, "He pushes the body to the point of extreme exhaustion, where boundaries are broken down and the mind stops saying, 'I can't do this,' and he begins the choreography from there."

Amy O'Neal of Locust is another local choreographer who spent time under Greco's direction at ImPulsTanz. Regarding his process, O'Neal says, "You're doing the same moves over and over again for hours and your muscles are cramping and you think you can't do it and then, all of a sudden, you feel connected to the entire room."

The grueling exercise turns out to be worth it. "When you're concentrating that long your muscle memory takes over," says O'Neal. "Your blood is really pumping and you feel grounded and centered and aware of everybody in the room."

This heightened sense of awareness is part of Greco's vision and is likely the reason his ensemble work is often noted for its remarkable unison — in which dancers become nearly indistinguishable. "The dancers are completely on the same wavelength," says Van Dyck. "Which allows them to move through the piece as one organism."

Brangien Davis: brangiendavis@yahoo.com.