Babel

The disconnect between the Nicaragua that's been made in the USA and the other Nicaragua - the poor, limping, bloodied place in Central America - has never been more apparent than this week. At one and the same time, TV audiences in Washington and Fort Worth, Texas, (home of House Speaker Jim Wright) have been treated to the first airings of contra commercials; Republican presidential also-ran Bob Dole has compared Sandinista self-defense to "Hitler's brazen aggression"; the 82d Airborne continues "exercising" in Honduras.

Three artists with nothing in common but a love for language shared the stage last night at the Painted Bride Art Center in a program called "body/ language. " Organized by dancer and choreographer Ellen Forman, who was one of the participants, the program was invigorating for its bold mix of talent. Two of the artists - Forman and Steve Krieckhaus - are dancers who like to talk as they move. Peter Rose's body does not figure in his work (although he does indeed have one). He makes film and video.

Peter Rose, who teaches at the Philadelphia Colleges of the Arts, is the Andy Kaufman of avant-garde movies, a filmmaker-performer who speaks in tongues to make us hear English with a clear ear. Over the next two weeks, Rose will be the star of local stage, screen and tube. Tonight through Sunday at 8 p.m, he's one of three multimedia soloists to perform, with his film and video works, at the Painted Bride Art Center. Tomorrow, Babel (1987), his video-in-progress, will screen at 8 p.m. at International House.