When Judith Jamison was asked to choreograph a work about Florence Griffith Joyner, she tried to learn as much as she could about the late Olympic track star who was known as much for her flashy style as for her athleticism. But Jamison, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, quickly decided that she could never really understand the woman nicknamed “FloJo” well enough to put together a biographical piece. Instead, “Here … Now” is an abstract work, inspired by Griffith Joyner’s glamour, dedication and talent while also exploring the similarities between dancers and athletes. “What we have most in common is the joy of what we do. We get through the pain to get to the joy,” Jamison says. “For the athlete, the joy is winning the gold, being the fastest. For the dancer, it is being the best – being so accomplished you are at the top of your craft.” FloJo burst on the track-and-field scene with wildly painted long fingernails, flowing hair and colorful, often one-legged, body suits. She won a silver medal in the 200-meter dash at the 1984 Olympics and gold medals at the 1988 Olympics in the 100, 200 and the 400 relay. She died in 1998 at age 38 after suffering an epileptic seizure. “Here … Now” was commissioned by the 2002 Olympic Arts Festival and was first performed by the Ailey company Dec. 7. It will be performed in repertory through Dec. 31 during the company’s season at City Center. It also will be danced during the company’s 21-city tour and during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics as part of the Olympic Arts Festival. – The Associated Press JEB LOY NICHOLS Growing up, Jeb Loy Nichols moved around the country, absorbing the geography and the music indigenous to each new locale. As a young kid in Missouri, he attended bluegrass festivals and listened to soul and gospel music from Kansas City radio stations. Then, in Austin, he absorbed the Texas capital’s cornucopia of blues, roots and folk. In New York City, he caught the last burning embers of disco and the nascent punk and reggae scenes. “I think each place you live does affect you and your music,” says Nichols, who will perform tonight at WYEP-FM’s Holiday Concert at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. But as Nichols soaked up such seemingly unrelated strands of notes, he was assimilating the various rhythms and beats. The result is music that begs, borrows and steals from everything he’s heard, but is refreshingly unlike most anything anyone else is doing today. His most recent release, “Just What Time It Is,” incorporates his penchant for love songs sung over groove-oriented tracks. Credit London, his adopted home of the past 17 years, with supplying a ready launching pad for Nichols’ excursions and experiments. “To be able to live outside of America, but still comment on it musically, or its musical traditions, was very helpful for me,” he says. At first listen, there seems to be little precedent for Nichols’ melting pot of sounds. But he says that’s not the case at all. “People always say things like so few people mix soul and country, but I think that’s just not true,” he says. “That’s just what’s become increasingly true. If you go back to the ’70s, I used to watch ‘Soul Train.’ When Marvin Gaye was on, they asked him who his favorite singer was and he said James Taylor. They asked Bobby Womack who his favorite singer was and he said James Taylor. “People have always mixed things up. If you go to Jamaica, who do they love• They love Johnny Cash and Bread. Kim Booth, a great reggae singer, had massive reggae hits with Bread tunes. … There has always been cross-fertilization between these things, but it’s become less apparent.” There also have always been love songs, but few in contemporary music are as ardent as Nichols about the value of singing about love. Nichols cites Gaye and his work as a precedent, and thinks the late soul singer’s “Here My Dear,” an album that examines Gaye’s failed marriage, is more radical than “What’s Going On,” his political masterpiece. “To be in love is a great revolutionary act,” he says. “By the time you get to ‘Here My Dear,’ Gaye’s whole life, his everything, has been torn apart. And that’s a much more profound and interesting revolution.” Tonight’s show, which features the Cowboy Junkies, begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $75 and $25. All proceeds benefit CASA and Family Resources, organizations that act as advocates for neglected children. Details: (412) 394-3353 or www.proartstickets.org . – Regis Behe PHILHARMONIC HOLIDAY SHOW Don’t let the “North” in the name fool you. Founded in 1975, the North Pittsburgh Philharmonic has a reach that extends beyond the North Hills zip codes. “Probably the bulk of our players come from that community, but we have a number of people who come from the general community of Pittsburgh, the city and the suburbs and elsewhere,” says Roger Tabler, the Philharmonic’s conductor and music director. Friday, Tabler will lead the North Pittsburgh Philharmonic in its annual Christmas concert, “Holy Night, Festive Day,” at North Hills Junior High School in Ross. Since becoming music director in 1996, Tabler has helped the orchestra get out from under the “community” tag that seems to connote well-meaning but unpolished talents. “We’ve grown a lot as an orchestra,” says Tabler, who has a master’s degree in music from Duquesne University. “We’re building on the talent that was there.” The orchestra includes professional and amateur musicians from Monroeville, Butler, Beaver Valley and New Kensington. “It bridges the gap between people who are amateurs and people who have studied,” he says. “Some of them have several degrees in music. We’ve tried to bridge that gap. It has not always been easy, but camaraderie is good. We’ve been able to have the more advanced players tutor the less experienced.” Violinist and concertmaster Dennis Morton played for five years with the Johnstown Symphony and served as principal violinist of the Romanza String Quartet. Friday, he’ll be one of the featured artists when the orchestra performs Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, along with second violinist Kay Tharnish. Orchestra member Val Griffin, former co-principal cellist with the Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., will play Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei, Adagio for Cello.” The work of the North Pittsburgh Philharmonic seems to be yielding fruit. A couple of weeks ago, Tabler says a friend who attended a performance told him, “When I closed my eyes, I forgot you were a community orchestra.” “Holy Night, Festive Day” will be at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for senior citizens and students. Children age 12 and younger will be admitted free. Transportation is available for those with special needs. The concert is in the North Hills Junior High School Auditorium, 55 Rochester Road, Ross Township. Details: (724) 789-9566. – William Loeffler

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