Trip Dance present The Company of One tomorrow & Saturday at CanWest Global Performing Arts Centre.

WINNIPEG - Mick Jagger would do pirouettes before many modern dance choreographers would set their work to his rock tunes.

But Trip Dance Company artistic director Karen Kuzak decided The Rolling Stones were a suitable music choice for the third and final solo in her company's ninth show, The Company of One -- even though popular music isn't that popular with her colleagues.

"Usually choreographers don't -- well, I've definitely shied away from bringing anything into my work that has strong associations with people, using music very cautiously. In this instance, I went exactly in the opposite in this direction," says Kuzak of the solo performed by former Winnipegger Linnea Swan.

Until recently, Kuzak didn't even own a Stones album. But she kept hearing their songs in the media and realized they triggered many past memories. So she incorporated a medley of the English band's hits with Swan's movements in a way she hopes will also trigger memories in her audience.

"That's definitely something I hope for when I'm making a work is that people will bring their information as they're viewing and be able to each have their unique experience," she says.

The Company of One also borrows from pop culture with its opening piece -- a live, interactive flamenco number performed by dancer Claire Marchand and sound artist Ken Gregory.

Kuzak feels mainstream dance forms and melodies are more accessible for those unacquainted with contemporary dance.

"I think that people are comfortable with styles of dancing like flamenco. Things like The Rolling Stones will bring in a certain comfort zone to watching the modern dance vocabulary."

Kuzak also took a new approach by featuring another choreographer (Montreal's Paul-Andre Fortier) in the show. All of the company's past performances have been exclusively her work.

Fortier's piece -- performed by local dance vet Randy Joynt -- is an unpredictable, physically demanding work set to industrial sounds by electronic artist Alain Thibault.

"We call it an unplugged aesthetic where the dancer is doing virtuoso dancing," she says. "There's nothing extraneous and theatrical happening. It's simply pure movement."

The Company of One is on tomorrow and Saturday at CanWest Global Performing Arts Centre -- a new venue for Trip's dancers, who usually perform at Gas Station Theatre. Tickets cost $16 - $20 at 942-8898.