Dave Blair, 49, raised in Bismarck, is known for his athletic side. He's a hockey and soccer coach, on the board of Dakota Junior Golf and such, when he's not director of a marketing company.

So, people who know him are surprised, to say the least, when they hear about his other side - his heavy involvement in local ballet.

He says it started when he saw a particular ballet.

Two years ago, he saw the Northern Plains Ballet production of "Elements,"an original ballet choreographed by artistic director Anthony Noa that swept away all notions of ballet as a dainty, delicate polite-type art form.

It was a pound and scream scene featuring taiko drum group Fubuki Daiko from Winnipeg, Canada, whose core-and-gut music accompanied dancers that powered their way through leaps and choreography of a different kind.

Right then and there he wanted to help the then brand-new professional ballet company to survive by getting on NPB's board.

"Elements just inspired me to want to be a part of this group,"Blair, a board member for the past 11/2 years, said Thursday.

He remembers thinking that "this is something that we need to stay on top of."

The ballet's third season starts Saturday.

And it starts with a bang - of the drums.

Saturday, "Elements" is back.

This time around, in addition to Fubuki Daiko and ballet dancers, 10 local black-belt martial artists with swords and poles also will perform.

It adds a dimension that Noa wanted the first time around but didn't have time to include. And he said it gives his ballet dancers periodic chances to take a couple breaths in a production that Noa acknowledges is a killer, physically demanding to the extreme, for his dancers.

Kris Ehrmantraut, 43, a sixth-degree black belt and co-owner of Ehrmantraut's Academy of Martial Arts, Music and Dance, said Northern Plains had thought about teaching its dancers martial arts, but decided that would be too difficult and chose instead to bring in authentic martial arts.

Ehrmantraut said the result is "a dynamic smorgasboard of the arts."

She said the ballet's choreography is "blockbuster"and that she and the other martial artists will be seen performing open hand forms and artist weaponry, spin kicks, jump kicks, explosive sequences, throws and roll outs. Martial artists wielding weapons have a small space to work with.

"We do come close to other people's bodies,"she said.

But it works. The public is invited to come and see just how well it works.

In addition to the ballet's resident professional dancers, such as Natalie Kitka, from Ontario, Canada, who trained at the National Ballet School in Toronto and with the Michigan Classic Ballet company; and Cheryl Soscia, who danced with Colorado Ballet in Denver before coming to Bismarck; dancers from Bulgaria and Puerto Rico have been brought in as guest artists.

Georgi Rusafov, 22, trained at the Balvaria National school for Art and Choreography from the age of 10. In Europe he performed with the Bulgarian National Theater for three years and the Estonia National Theater for one year, and in the United States with the Milwaukee Ballet as a principal last year.

Alejandro Curtis, originally from Puerto Rico, has performed as a guest artist in ballet productions on three continents. He has danced with Ballet Concierton de Puerto Rico, Fort Worth Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, Connecticut Ballet and Sacramento Ballet, among others.

There will be two performances, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Belle Mehus City Auditorium.

For a look at the 2003 show, visit www.adeopro-.com. For more information on Fubuki Daiko, visit www.fubuki.ca.

All seats are reserved. Tickets prices are $12, $18 and $24 for adults; $6, $9 and $12 for children 12 and younger; and $9, $15 and $18 for students and seniors.

Tickets for the shows are available at Herberger's or by calling Northern Plains Ballet at 530-0986.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@;bismarcktribune.com.)