By Carol Norris
Enquirer contributor

Ever since Pilobolus Dance Theatre had to cancel its performances in April 2001 because of the riots, Contemporary Dance Theater director Jefferson James has been trying to get the wildly popular dance group back to Cincinnati. Because of Pilobolus' breathless schedule, Ms. James had to settle for a Tuesday-Wednesday visit. That's OK - Pilobolus is definitely worth the wait.

If you know nothing about this group's zany take on dance, we want you to know 10 things you will not see at a Pilobolus concert:

IF YOU GO

• What: Contemporary Dance Theater presents Pilobolus Dance Theatre • When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday • Where: Jarson-Kaplan Theater, Aronoff Center for the Arts, downtown. • Tickets: $18, $22, $12 students and seniors at the Aronoff and Music Hall offices, Ticketmaster locations, 241-7469 or www.ticketmaster.com. • The works:  Monkey and the White Bone Demon (2001) - a Chinese tale done up as a moral and/or amusing story. It involves a terrible demon; the monkey is the wise one.  Symbiosis (2001) - A relationship; a duet for a man and a woman.  The Four Humors (2002) - Based on the classic medical humors - sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic - real things people used to put great stock in. Untitled (1975) - A Pilobolus classic revived, with giant Alice in Wonderland characters.

1. Tutus. "We only wear tutus for Halloween," deadpans one of the group's leaders, Jonathan Wolken. It's mostly tights and leotards you'll find this group wearing, the better to see the bodies counter-balanced in extraordinarily changing patterns. "We do wear extremely long Alice in Wonderland skirts in "Untitled" however," he says.

2. A typical modern dance company. "I wouldn't really call us a modern dance company," says Mr. Wolken by phone from his office in Washington, Conn.

Well, what then? "What do you think?" he counters. A living kaleidoscope? "That's pretty good," he says. "Maybe an alien life form. Hey it's hard enough to make pieces, let alone figure out what we are."

3. A singular vision. Companies have an artistic director at the top. This company has often been run by four directors - at the least two - with most pieces worked out by committee. The plan has worked for 31 very busy years.

4. Boring stuff. "There are landmarks - abstract and theatrical - but if we do something kinetic it will probably be followed by something totally different. It's always what's interesting for us to watch," Mr. Wolken says.

5. Something done the same way twice. The group prepares three new pieces a year and recycles old ones at will, but don't expect something you first saw 20 years ago to look the same. "What brings us back is not sameness, but newness. Audiences, our dancers change - so remounting of old pieces changes," Mr. Wolken explains.

6. A standard technique. Every dance style is built on its own technique, the nitty-gritty work that goes on in a studio to get the body ready to perform the choreography. Not so Pilobolus. "We whip it out; we see what we can do," Mr. Wolken says. "Our technique is pioneering new movement. We don't do company classes. When you work six hours on new choreography, that's plenty of company involvement."

7. Dances without music. "In our entire rep of over 100 pieces there's only one without music, and that's because the tape broke in rehearsal," he says.

8. Any of the original four dancing. "We're in geezer-hood now," offers Mr. Wolken, who won't tell his age, but admits to graying hair. Today, there are six performers - two women and four men, none of them geezers.

9. Rules. There are none. Think eccentric and very funny.

10. An empty seat in the house. Early buzz is seats are going fast. Call ahead.