The summer edition of “Dance at the Odyssey” has been happening every weekend since June 20th and will conclude July 5th, 2026. Each program as usual was worth seeing as producers Barbara Muller-Wittman and Beth Hogan carefully curate each season. I was fortunate to attend Friday June 26th. “Rat-Race” by Lincoln Seymour and “Solstice” by Lineage MVMT were presented in the perfect black-box space.
“Rat Race” by Lincoln Seymour – Photo courtesy of Dance at the Odyssey
“Rat-Race” immediately plunged us into the trap of routine and the “9 to 5 lifestyle.” Onstage is a single large desk clearly illustrating the setting while the music created by Seymour along with the cast, underscores the tedious nature of corporate labor. A clock ticks as the blank faced dancers walk in slowly accelerating circles. A solo female dancer (no individual credits are indicated) climbs onto and around the desk moving somnambulantly as the walkers disappear into darkness. She is joined by a second female dancer in a peculiar duo of jagged aggressive movement which is well executed yet unclear as to motive. However, as the piece develops, we are drawn into Seymour’s vision of a dystopian workplace where individuality is lost. His wildly engaging and unique choreography showcases the dancers so that we clearly see their technical and personal strength. He utilizes his small cast of 5 effectively moving them on and offstage, crossing, interacting and sometimes working in unison then dropping into solos duos and trios always carefully organized so that the viewer is completely drawn into every scene. His style is a hybrid of modern, jazz and contemporary invention that suits the subject perfectly. In keeping with the business work theme there is a clever handshake segment and a nod to ambition. The dancers have impeccable technique and while each has a moment to shine it is the clean unison line work that hits hard. Seymour keeps the “Rat-Race” moving at a constant pitch of technically challenging floor work, slides, runs, gymnastics and wild yet contained abandonment. The staging is strong and the music/soundscape seamlessly underscores the intent. Looking away was not an option.
I sometimes find musicscapes to be repetitively dreary but somehow this score managed to find depth, interesting chord changes, excellent rhythm and strong compositional elements that are often missing. Therefore, the underlying foundation of music supported the strong choreography. However, it would be interesting to see what Seymour might do with a melodic theme.
The terrifically capable dancers were; Lincoln Seymour, Emily Fluker, Robert Hoffer, Ryan Amato and Julia Lowe.
Dance at the Odyssey – Lineage MVMT – Photo by Gunindu Abeysekera.
After a short intermission Lineage MVMT took the stage with “Solstice.” The program states that this is “A powerful fusion of Kung Fu and contemporary dance.”
Dance at the Odyssey – Lineage MVMT – Photo by Sofia Lareau.
Beginning with ambient nature sounds in an ode to summer, five female dancers awaken with simple lyrical movement with just a hint of martial art style. Expecting this movement to morph into a “dynamic collision of yang and yin” never truly materialized as this collaborative choreography was unclear in its’ overall focus. The five young women have moderate abilities as dancers and martial artists and though they were deeply committed in their efforts more attention to detail and precision may have elevated the work. The utilizing of Kung Fu movement is fascinating and I have seen many works of fused dance and martial arts that were phenomenal but here short shrift was paid to the specific details of the art form especially in the use of various weapons. It was clear that no one had full control or knowledge of their prop and this lack defeated the underlying theme of combining these two elements. Yet, there were nice moments of unison dance, some cool floor work and many good staging ideas along with several interesting solos. Though often it felt just as one “good idea” surfaced, the choreographers launched into another before bringing anything to true fruition. Perhaps this is due to “too many cooks” each needing to have input thereby diluting the overall impact. Still, these dancers worked very hard with sincerity leading to some nice moments throughout which pointed to the potential for something truly “powerful” to develop.
Dance at the Odyssey – Lineage MVMT – Photo by Sofia Lareau.
The music/soundscape was by Lingfeng Yi and Woulg, which did little to enhance the onstage action and engage the audience.
The hardworking dancer/choreographers were; Alexis Mssey, Aysha Cunningham, Brianna Gianetto, Elena Bruce and Kennedy Silva-Costa.
Again, much thanks to the Odyssey for bringing the dance arts to a wider audience. As always, I look forward to the next iteration of “Dance at the Odyssey” because you never know what wonderful surprises are in store.
Dance at the Odyssey continues through July 5, 2026: July 2, 2026, 8pm – Maggie Ogle’s Thresholds; July 3, 2026, 8pm – Cora Laszlo’s Gambiarra Imaginary Solutions for Love; and July 5, 2026, 2pm – Tanz Tanz Revolution’s (TTR) Sonder and Katie Tuchi’s DOUBTING THOMAS.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble website.
Written by Tam Warner for LA Dance Chronicle.
Feature image: Lineage MVMT – Photo by Sofia Lareau.
