Located in West Los Angeles, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble has announced its 7th annual Dance at the Odyssey festival taking place each weekend for six weeks January 12 – February 18, 2024. Each weekend will feature a different dance work making it worthwhile to make plans to attend all six shows. Dance at the Odyssey is curated by series co-founder Barbara Mueller-Wittmann, “as the go-to place to view new work by cutting edge companies and choreographers.” Press release by Lucy Pollack. Tickets are on sale now at www.OdysseyTheatre.com or by calling the box office at (310) 477-2055 ext. 2.
The works appearing on Dance at the Odyssey include We Are Destroying Ourselves: A Dance Wrecking, choreographed by Rebecca Pappas; the World premiere of Archetype featuring choreography by Lily Chumas, Sadie Guthrie, Mekinna Knight, Nia Mason, Iyana Monet, Robby Olmos, Madi Ostratch, and Olivia Vannucci; México City’s Punto de Inflexión in 3×3, directed by Stephanie García; Goblin Party in the world premiere of Nomad, directed and conceived by Hyoin Jun with choreography by Jun, Mizuki Sako and Tulsi Shah; how i became kinder, and kinder choreographed by Azuki Umeda; and Galiana&Nikolchev’s The Useless Room presents the world premiere of The Un(Double).
Dance at the Odyssey – Choreographer Rebecca Pappas presents “Dance Wreckings” – Photo by John Atashian.
Dance at the Odyssey Schedule
January 12 through 14, 2024 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. with a pre-show open studio from 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. with a pre-show open studio from 12:30-1:30 p.m.; a discussion follows each of the performances): We Are Destroying Ourselves: A Dance Wrecking, choreographed by Rebecca Pappas.
Three evenings, three different “dance wreckings.” Each night, an invited artist dismantles, remakes and shares a volume of “my body as the topic of coming around again” by choreographer Rebecca Pappas. Can destruction be an act of care?
Dance at the Odyssey – World premiere of “Archetype” is based on the dance film “Red Football – Still photo by Lily Chumas.
January 19 through 21, 2024 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
World premiere of Archetype, featuring choreography by Lily Chumas, Sadie Guthrie, Mekinna Knight, Nia Mason, Iyana Monet, Robby Olmos, Madi Ostratch, and Olivia Vannucci.
What do Jung’s theories about archetypes in human behavior and the discography of Sinéad O’Connor have in common? Director/choreographer Lily Chumas explores the various stages of life as she follows a central figure from pre-conception, to childhood, through adulthood and beyond in this redevelopment of her dance film, Red Football.
Dance at the Odyssey – Punto de Inflexión – Photo by Brandi Menefee.
January 26 through 28, 2024 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
México City’s Punto de Inflexión in 3×3.
Three pieces, three reflections. Mexican dance company Punto de Inflexión, directed by Stephanie García, exposes feminine and deep human emotions in downcast (2021), dealing with the duality that inhabits human experience; Incandescent, a solo work about the complex imbalance life shows us from time to time; and Abrirse el Cuerpo (2022), a reflection on the ongoing creative investigation of gender violence and identities not aligned with the colonial project. Presented with the support of the Sistema de Apoyos a la Creación y Proyectos Culturales of Mexico.
Dance at the Odyssey – Goblin Party – Photo by George Simian.
February 2 through 4, 2024: (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
Goblin Party in the world premiere of Nomad, directed and conceived by Hyoin Jun with choreography by Jun, Mizuki Sako and Tulsi Shah.
An imaginative nomadic tribe travels, explores, and performs a way of living of their own way.
Dance at the Odyssey – Choreographer Azuki Umeda – “how i became kinder, and kinder” – Photo by Hannah Mayfield.
February 9 through 11, 2024: (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
how i became kinder, and kinder
With music by Robert Gaar, Lucy Liyou and her own devised score, choreographer Azuki Umeda and seven dancers unravel an exploration of sounds that unify meaning in movement. (Content advisory: the sound score includes explicit language.)
Dance at the Odyssey – Galiana&Nikolchev’s The Useless Room – Photo by Anthony Nikolchev.
February 16 through 18, 2024 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
Galiana&Nikolchev’s The Useless Room presents the world premiere of The Un(Double), adapted by Anthony Nikolchev from The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky and various court transcripts, and featuring choreography by Lukasz Przytarski, Anthony Nikolchev and Gema Galiana.
Why can individual free will be devastating to self and society? Dostoevsky’s first published novella serves as the backbone of this physical dance/theater piece that seeks to unravel the heroic narratives that drive an individual’s life journey and the devastation when that projection of self is not met.
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WHAT: Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s 7th annual Dance at the Odyssey festival takes place each weekend for six weeks January 12 – February 18, 2024.
WHEN: January 12 through February 18, 2024.
WHERE: Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90025.
PARKING: Free parking in on-site lot.
TICKET PRICE: $25 – To see other ticket price options, please click HERE or call the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s Box Office at (310) 477-2055 ext. 2.
Written by Jeff Slayton based on information from Lucy Pollack Public Relations.
Featured image: Dance at the Odyssey – Choreographer Rebecca Pappas presents Dance Wrecking – Photo by John Atashian
