by MARITES CARINO

If you find yourself alienated by contemporary dance you're not alone, assures José Navas. "It's extremely intimidating, the way it's presented sometimes," says the choreographer. "Even so for us who are in the milieu."

With the goal to lure and cultivate more dance newbies, to open up a dialogue between artists and spectators and to give the audience a glimpse into the creation process, Navas has organized the Séminaire chorégraphique. It's an idea that has evolved through workshops and experiences he's had over the years.

For five days, Agora de la danse will be taken over by five composers, five choreographers and 15 dancers. They will tackle the challenges - which often include sleep deprivation and talking through their pieces in bars late at night - to create five choreographies complete with a live soundtrack every 24 hours for a nightly 7:30 p.m. performance deadline.

After the performances, the artists will gather on stage for a back-and-forth question-and-answer session about the motives and methods behind their pieces.

No question is stupid in Navas's mind. "I find the discussions wonderful," he says. "This is the place where we can talk about anything - like, ‘What is this piece about?' or ‘Why were you jumping up and down?'"

After every discussion, a random audience member will pull a theme from a hat, which will serve as the theme for the next performance. "Like, ‘The snow falls down and breaks my heart' or whatever," Navas says. Each team then has 24 hours to create a 10-minute piece with one to five dancers. This is quite a challenge, since most of the participants have never worked together before.

"Besides the time," Navas explains, "the biggest challenge is for the artists to open themselves up to the experience. Honestly, it's not simple because they know people are going to watch what they're doing. The other challenge is to embrace failure."

The choreographers opening themselves up to such failure include locals Tony Chong and Estelle Clareton, American Allyson Green and two choreographers from the Netherlands, André Gingras and Maria Ines Villasmil.

The Séminaire formula made its debut in 2000, with surprising results, as Navas recalls: "Everyone, including me, was expecting maybe 10 people to come, but by the second evening we had to send people away because we didn't have the space. And a lot of people who came were people who didn't know a lot about dance."

It's a formula that has made accessible an art form that too often comes across as esoteric, giving a challenge to the artist and tools to the audience so they can make their own judgements. "Contemporary dance is way simpler than what you think," says Navas. "If you didn't get it, well maybe it just didn't work for you."

Séminaire chorégraphique takes place at l'Agora de la danse (840 Cherrier) Aug. 25-29, 7:30pm. Tickets are $12, or $50 for all five nights, 525-1500 to reserve