Bodiography's Maria Caruso can't believe it. "It's wonderful to have choreographers come to you," says the twenty-something Squirrel Hill artistic director.

Caruso loves to bring in artists who can teach not only her dancers, but mentor her on her choreographic path. "I want to learn from other choreographers and make it my own," she says. "I'm proud to be constantly growing and I will always be a student of dance."

This time her mentor is James Martin, the associate chair of dance at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, known for his ballet classes, but also known for teaching the ideas of modern dance within the context of classical dance. They met at Princeton, where Bodiography was performing. He approached Caruso, interested in working with her.

Martin brings a broad-based background to Caruso's company, with impressive stints at Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Donald Byrd Company and New York Baroque Dance Company.

More than that, Martin is a musician -- a British Isles-inspired artist on mandolin, guitar and banjo -- that enhances his choreography as he works off the musical score.

Because Caruso already programmed a new psychological ballet based on the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Bound," and is restaging her 2005 "Solace," with music by Arvo Part, Martin decided to add something more classically oriented, "kind of a formal piece that didn't have a narrative."

He focused on Bach's first partita for piano, satisfying to do because "the work itself is so elegantly constructed. One of the things so nice about the structure is the element of surprise and the element of recognition," says Martin. "He plays with those two things in this really beautiful way. It's a piece I've wanted to do for a long time."

Martin tried to work off of the Bach structure, perhaps a legacy of his tenure with New York Baroque. "One needs to be very precise in terms of space, rhythm and focus. I think that's what gives it a visual impact."

The primary impulse for dancing is a musical one to Martin. "Rhythm, musicality -- I'd like to talk about dance values and musicality as one and the same," he says.

He thought that Bach would be "a great vehicle" for Bodiography. Drawing upon his experience, Martin is interested in the transition of the movement, which is perfect for Caruso's performers.