GAle GAtes et al [sic], purveyors of a visually surreal Robert Wilson-esque type of theatre, have extended their latest, Tilly Losch , at their 40,000-square-foot performance space/gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The show, which had an original run Dec. 2-19, will reopen Dec. 29 and play through Jan. 16, 1999.

Losch , like all GAtes productions, is directed and designed by artistic director Michael Counts. This show takes its name from the famed ballerina in the early part of this century. American surrealist Joseph Cornell -- known for his infatuation with female dancers and movie stars -- created a box dedicated to the ballerina featuring Losch floating away in a hot air balloon.

Counts works off the visual and narrative notions constructed from the box and mixes them with other sources, like Andrew Wyeth's famed painting "Christina's World," as well as sections from the film "Casablanca."

GAle GAtes et al, founded in 1995 by Counts, created 90 Degrees , an installation (a piece of art creating an environment) containing half a million stalks of marsh grass that filled 65,000 square feet. In spring 1997, GAle GAtes et al created Wine-Blue-Open Water , an adaptation of Homer's "The Odyssey," with text by playwright Ruth Margraff. Other productions include: Gertrude Stein's Yes Is For A Very Young Man and last year's Field of Mars. Counts states that the mission of GAle GAtes is to create "expansive pieces that the audiences wanders through as if they were guests in another world."

For tickets or more information on GAle GAtes' Tilly Losch, call (718) 522-4597. -- By Sean McGrath and
Robert Simonson