TROY, NY -- The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will host a work-in-progress performance of "Triptych 0811," a work by Norwegian dance company Ella Fiskum Danz, Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m., in the EMPAC Theater.

The EMPAC performance is free and open to the public.

Drawing inspiration from the art triptych, in which three images or panels are separate, yet together, "Triptych 0811," according to supplied material, "explores the relationship between dreams, reality, and ambition."

In the piece, Ella Fiskum Danz journeys into the inner life of fantastic aspirations flanked by the obstacles of real life. Using classical ballet vocabulary in stark contrast to aspects of contemporary life, Fiskum culls together a theatrical dreamscape: a woman in a burqa, a ballerina turned nightclub dancer, a Hollywood starlet played by a man, and a prima ballerina.

With a live performance by Norwegian rock guitar legend Ronni Le Tekrø and innovative stage design by Serge von Arx, the audience is invited to view multiple realities through the lives of the characters on stage.

This work in progress functions as an open environment to test ideas from a two-week production residency as part of an ongoing open-call residency initiative at EMPAC.

ella christina fiskum -- artistic director, choreographer, dancer -- hails from Trondheim, Norway. She studied ballet at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, privately under Natalia Papina in St. Petersburg, and at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart.

From 1997 to 2004 she choreographed four full-length productions, as well as several solo performances. Her works have integrated a variety of mediums in unconventional settings including directing/choreographing two church operas, four major site-specific performance-installations, and a duet.

Fiskum has worked as a dancer since 1992 for major choreographers and companies in Norway and Canada. She founded Ella Fiskum Danz in Oslo in 2000.

EMPAC is located at 110 8th St. Parking is available in the RPI parking lot on College Avenue. For information call 518-276-3921 or visit empac.rpi.edu.