Bending Backwards

From a journal page to the stage in El Sereno, percussive feet in Long Beach and Malibu, celebrating a barrier breaking ballerina in Hancock Park, Persian resistance dances in Irvine, contemporary ballet from a Brit in Santa Monica,  more SoCal dance this week and a peek at next week.

Live This Week

Feelin’ Wheeldon

Later this month, a full-length story ballet from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon arrives in Orange County, but first Los Angeles Ballet offers a trio of Wheeldon’s earlier abstract works in Three Christopher Wheeldon Ballets. The program includes a reprise of Ghosts presented last year, along with two LAB premieres, Fool’s Paradise and Morphoses. LAB’s new artistic director Melissa Barak brings an understanding of Wheeldon’s liquid choreographic style from her time as a dancer in his ballets. The Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica; Thurs.-Sat., March 16-18, 7:30 pm, $84-$137, $76-$124 seniors, students, military & children. https://www.losangelesballet.org/wheeldon

 
Unbordered flamenco

The touring company Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana stops off at two local venues with Fronteras, choreographed José Maldonado and Karen Lugo. The company includes live musicians. Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Sat., March 18, 8 pm, $45. https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/carpenterarts/6773/event/1270845. Also at Pepperdine University, Smothers Theater, 24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu; Tues., March 21, 8 pm, $25-$50. https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/3179329/flamenco-vivo-malibu-smothers-theatre?cobrand=cfa2020.

 
A new six

Under the banner Orange, six SoCal choreographers, most with their own companies, present new contemporary works. The six include Mallory Fabin, Celesta Lanuza, Janell Burgess, Deborah Brockus, Maura Townsend, and Nannette Brodie. Brockus Project Studios, 618B Moulton Ave., Lincoln Heights; Fri., March 17, 8:30 pm, Sat., March 18, 8 pm, $10 in advance, $15 at door. venmo@BrockusProjectStudios.

 
What she wrote

Drawing on journal entries, Hannah Millar and her contemporary troupe Imprints invite the audience to consider humanity and resilience in Let Us Bleed, Then Heal. The work was presented to strong reviews last July as part the Dance at the Odyssey Festival. Here’s another chance to see it. The Stomping Ground, 5453 Alhambra Blvd., El Sereno; Sat., March 18, 7:30 pm, Sun., March 19, 2 pm, $25-$45. https://www.hannahrmillar.com/showandtickets

 
Paying homage

Now credited as the first African American to dance with a major classical ballet company, the late Raven Wilkinson (1935-2018) is honored and remembered in A Celebration of Raven Wilkinson. The event is hosted by City Ballet of Los Angeles founder/artistic director Robyn Gardenhire and UC Irvine dance historian Ariyan Johnson. The event includes performances by the upcoming generation of dancers from LA County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) and Colburn School Ballet. Ebell Club of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd., Hancock Park; Sun., March 19, 4 pm, $25. https://www.cityballetofla.org/, or https://tinyurl.com/ebell-raven-wilkinson-tickets

 
Starting the year

Offering an array of contemporary ballet choreography, Kenneth Walker brings his Kenneth Walker Dance Project to this intimate stage. This marks the ensemble’s first performance of the year and includes new choreography. Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro; Sun., March 19, 2 pm, $18. https://kennethwalkerdanceproject.org/

 
Striking a positive pose

Earlier this month a pop up event previewed this local premiere of Louise Reichlin’s Gotta Get Up, Reboot! Reboot! The new work and her six-part Urban and Tribal Dances are performed by Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers. Culver City Senior Center, 4095 Overland Ave., Culver City; Sat., March18, 1:30 pm, free. https://lachoreographersanddancers.org/news/

 
Out is not over

In this event celebrating the Persian new year, The White Feather: A Persian Ballet Tale, mixes history and resistance through a tale of the dismantling of Iran’s ballet with the rise of current regime and the struggle for art ever since. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Wed., March 22, 7 pm, $35-$135. https://www.thebarclay.org/

 
Not a mystery

For more than four decades, Benita Bike’s DanceArt has made its mark presenting modern dance in untraditional settings with the goal of demystifying the process of creating dance. This week Bike and her all-female troupe are in the Valley. In addition to dancing two works, the event offers the audience a chance to share their thoughts. Mission College, AMP Theater, 13356 Eldridge Ave., Sylmar; Thurs. March 16, 7 pm, free. www.danceart.org

 
Last time?

Members of Lineage Dance join actors, singers, and other performers in a Matter of Time. The immersive performance time travels from the 1950s to 2000 with audience members electing to move back or forward through the decades as the performers lead through various rooms and decades. Lineage Performing Arts Center, 920 E. Mountain St., Pasadena: Thurs., March 16, 7 pm, $40, $25 student & senior. https://www.lineagepac.org/

 
Post-Modern History, Live

Several of the notable figures who emerged from the post modern dance era centered at New York City’s Judson Church in the 1960’s left and came to SoCal. Rudy Perez and Simone Forti are among those NY transfers who became forces on the LA dance scene and now have éminence grise status here. Forti’s oeuvre and the materials that fueled them are the focus of Simone Forti, the first museum exhibit to survey what she produced. The three-month exhibit includes live performances of Dance Constructions, one of her landmark works from 1961. Sarah Swenson, a known LA choreographer and long-time associate of Forti, acted as Performance Coordinator for this project and Forti’s Dance Constructions presented throughout the exhibition, were staged by Carmela Hermann Dietrich. Hermann Dietrich and Forti have a relationship dating back to 1989 that includes improvised duets, the most recent of which, in 2017, was at Highways Performance Space.The exhibit also includes Forti’s sculptures, videos, drawings, and notebooks. Dance Constructions at MOCA Grand Avenue (Museum of Contemporary Art), 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Exhibit runs to Sun., April 2. Performances of Dance Constructions performed Thurs., 3:30, 4:45, 6:00, & 7:15 pm, Sat. & Sun., 12:30, 1:45, 3:00, & 4:15 pm, throughout the exhibit run, free with timed museum admission. https://www.moca.org/

 
The birds have flown 

This spring’s program from Orange County’s Festival Ballet is Swan Lake with professional guest artists fronting the well-trained pre-professional dancers. As of last week, tickets appeared sold out and no information on any wait list. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Sat., March 18, 7 pm, Sun., March 19, 2 pm, sold out. https://www.festivalballet.org/

 
They’re back!

Perhaps in light of current U.S./China tensions, the touring showcase Shen Yun 2023 returns with the subtitle “China before Communism.” The highly produced events promising to survey five centuries of Chinese culture features lavish costumes and sets, a live orchestra, plus acrobatic dancing that can dazzle. Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; Thurs., March 16, 2 & 7:30 pm, $80-$180. Also at Long Beach Terrace Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; Sat., March 18, 2 & 7:30 pm, Sun., March 19, 1 p.m., $80 to $200. Also at the Soraya, Cal State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; Tues., March 21, 7:30 pm, Wed., March 22, 2 & 7:30 pm, $90-$180.  complete listing of SoCal appearances at https://www.shenyun.com/?openSlide=1

A Peek at Next Week

Bodies in Play in Abbale at the Broadwater Theater, MainStage, 1076 Lillian Way,  Thurs.-Sat., March 30-April 1, 8 pm, $20-$40. https://www.bodiesinplay.com/performances.html

American Ballet Theatre in Like Water for Chocolate. At Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Wed.-Sat., March 29-Sat., April 1, 7:30 pm, Sat. & Sun., April 1-2, 2 pm., $29-$250. https://seats.scfta.org/single?id=26369

 
American Contemporary Ballet in Dancing School. At ACB Studios, Two California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., Suite 2850, downtown; Sun., March 26, 2 pm, $55-$95.  https://us.patronbase.com/_ACBDances/Productions/15/Performances

LA Women’s Theatre Festival – At Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Lynne Jassem (Fri., March 24, 8 pm), Vannia Ibarguen (Sat., March 25, 3 pm), Juli Kim, Vyshnavi Aysola, and Jassem (Sun., March 26, 7 pm). $20. https://lawtf.org/

Cirque du Soleil: Corteo at Microsoft Theater, 777 Chick Hearn Ct., downtown; opens Fri., March 24 7:30 pm to Sun., April 30, 1 & 5 pm, (see website for full list of performances and times), $45-$115. https://www.microsofttheater.com/

Dance Notes

Veterans moving

If not viewed in person or online, description of the power unleashed by choreographer Jacques Heim and the Veterans Project launched by Diavolo Architecture in Motion may seem like hyperbole. It’s not. Initiated to physicalize the re-entry struggles of military veterans with the highly physical, gymnastic Diavolo movement world, the resulting Veterans Project live events proved physically breathtaking, artistically stunning, and healing. During the pandemic, a shift to film produced two powerful movement essays, particularly one that focused on military veterans now on the Covid front lines as nurses, doctors, EMTs, and other medical techs. Gearing up for the next project, Diavolo is reaching out to veterans and their families to join new, free, online workshops in April. Meanwhile, the Veterans Project is reprising the powerful This Is Me, Letters from the Front.  Streaming Sat., March 18, 5 pm. PDT, $20.  https://diavolo.stellartickets.com/events/this-is-me-letters-from-the-front-lines–2?aff=newsletter

Featured image: Imprints – Photo by Taso Papadakis

Ann Haskins Blog appears at CulturalDaily.com