Any work of art is the product of the experiences of the artist who creates it, and although many artists think of their creative process as more dependent on imagination and skill, the way that creativity forms the reality of art is inseparable from the experiences that shape an individual. In his new work, "A Path Home", Craig Kaufman creates a study in Dance of something he has experienced, perhaps more imaginatively than most: how to choose a path. Kaufman's biography is already a study in dedicated but unusual choice; for Kaufman, who now lives and works in Chicago, home is both the hard-working world of western Pennsylvania where he grew up, and the aesthetically intricate world of professional choreography. Although such paths are not unusual in the arts, they usually imply contradiction, but for Kaufman the different worlds he's experienced are fluid and balanced aspects of the same choice, the same path.

That may be why "A Path Home", premiering this weekend at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in a performance by the Conservatory Dance Company, is at once driving and contemplative. Set on an ensemble of five men and five women, it presents a study of choice as a dynamic, recursive process more than as a philosophy. Kaufman establishes, and then explores, a series of motifs in an evolving development -- a reflection of his idea of path, and of a path home. The evolution of the ensemble's movement almost implies that choice is repetitive, and might even be circular, except that experience makes development inevitable.

Pittsburgh Connections, a popular annual program that features choreography from invited artists with Pittsburgh roots, takes place at Point Park University's Pittsburgh Playhouse November 12-21, and also features new works by Dionna Pridgeon, Kassandra Taylor, Gina Patterson and Justin Myles. There's more information (including show times, and the box office phone number) at Pittsburgh Playhouse.

Before Kaufman left to set the piece in Pittsburgh, he sat down with Johnny Nevin to talk about it, and you can find that podcast at this link: Craig Kaufman's Return to Point Park University. After Craig's return to Chicago, the two sat down again to talk about "A Path Home"; here's the next installment in their conversation:

AOTPR.COM PODCAST
CRAIG KAUFMAN DISCUSSES "A PATH HOME"