Aerial meets ballet in Hollywood, contemporary dance with a sense of humor in Costa Mesa, a lost modern dance found in Northridge, a jukebox musical with a GoGo’s dance party in Pasadena, Flamenco from Spain downtown, all live! Plus new dance films, online streams, more SoCal dance this week and a peek at next.
Live This Week
A strobe solo
A half dozen works from choreographer/artistic director David Parsons mark the debut of Parsons Dance at this venue. A periodic visitor, Parsons and his superbly trained dancers deserve their reputation for seasoning contemporary dance with wry humor. The dance card includes one of the choreographer’s early, and still most delightful works, Caught, a solo for dancer and strobe light, coordinated to create an illusion of the dancer suspended in air. Other scheduled works include Kind of Blue to Miles Davis’ jazz and Shining Star set to music from Earth, Wind & Fire. At Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Sat., Nov. 20, 7:30 pm, $39-$119. Info, tickets, and Covid protocols at https://scfta.org/events/2021/parsons-dance-company.
Parsons Dance Photo by Lois Greenfield
Resurrecting a ghost of Guernica
The Martha Graham Dance Company brings four dances this visit including two audience favorites, a work by someone other than the legendary Graham, and a 1937 solo Immediate Tragedy that was Graham’s response to the Spanish Civil War and long-believed lost. The performance has live music provided by Wild Up whose conductor Christopher Rountree reimagined a score for Immediate Tragedy from a single surviving page of the original Henry Cowell score. With Pulitzer Prize-winning music by Aaron Copeland, Appalachian Spring is among the Graham company’s most performed works and is scheduled along with Diversion of Angels, another Graham signature. Also on the program, the West Coast premiere of Andrea Miller’s Scavengers, an example of company director Janet Eilber’s commissioning of new choreography for the company. At The Soraya, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; Fri., Nov. 19, 8 pm, $41-$86. Info, tickets and Covid protocols at https://www.thesoraya.org/calendar/details/mgdc-2021
Martha Graham Dance Company – Jacob Larsen and Marzia Memoli in Andrea Miller’s “Scavengers” by Melissa Sherwood
Taking to the air
With its signature combination of ballet and aerial dance, Luminario Ballet returns with a live performance that includes an optional pre-performance gala. In addition to its own aerial artists and ballet dancers, special guests include performers from Cirque du Soleil. Expect high-flying dance and aerial endeavors as the company takes off at the Avalon Hollywood, 1735 Vine St., Hollywood; Sun., Nov. 21, performance at 7:45 pm, $35-$125, pre-performance gala at 5:30 pm, $300-$5,000. Info at https://luminarioballet.org/ Tickets and Covid protocols at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/luminario-ballet-hard-as-a-rock-gala-fundraiser-and-performance-tickets-167381872687.
Luminario Ballet in L’Invalide choreography by Judith FLEX Helle – Photo by Ted Soqui
A Spanish import
Dancer Macarena López joins Flamenco singer Arcángel along with guitarist Francisco José Gómez and percussionist Lito Mánez in Desde la Tierra. At Zipper Hall, Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Sat., Nov. 20, 7:15 pm, $50-$110. https://www.itsmyseat.com/events/388149.html.
Macarena López. Photo courtesy of the artist
It Go-Gos
Music of the 1980’s LA band The Go Gos fuels Head over Heels, a jukebox musical loosely based on The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney. The venue reopens with its first live performance filled with dancing on more than just the stage.The theater has been reconfigured to afford the audience a choice of onstage or theater seating as well as a general admission ticket to an open floor area inviting an audience-fueled dance party as part of the performance. Live at Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino, Pasadena. opens Tues., Nov. 9., then Tues.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 7 pm, Sat. & Sun., 2 pm, thru Sun., Dec. 12, $30-$106. Info, tickets, and Covid protocols at https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/
Head Over Heels. Photo by Jeff Lorch.
Back on the home stage
After screening performances remotely, CSULB Fall Dance Concert still streams but this time from onstage at the home theater. Contributing choreographers include Andrew Vaca, Tsiambwom Akuchu, Danzel Thompson-Stout, along with BFA choreographers David Bernal, Kevin Holland, Yukiko Nimura, and Aisha Reddick. Streamed live from Martha B Knoebel Dance Theater, Cal State University Long Beach, Thurs.-Fri., Nov. 18-19, 8 pm, $15. https://www.csulb.edu/dance/csulb-dance-events
CSULB Contemporary Dance Concert Photo courtesy of CSULB dance department
Post-modern rituals
The first-ever retrospective of the work of choreographer and video artist Blondell Cummings: Dance as Moving Pictures includes videos, interviews, and photographs. On view at Art+Practice, 3401 W. 43rd Pl., Leimert Park; Wed.-Sat., noon-6 pm, to Feb. 19, 2022, free. Research guide at Getty Research Institute, Exhibition at Art+Practice.
Photo by Blondell Cummings.
Museum moves
Performance and dance are the metier of several artists in both of this museum’s big fall exhibits. Artists who are movers featured in Witch Hunt include Okwui Okpokwasili, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, and Beverly Semmes. The performance duo Las Nietas de Nono are among the artists in No Humans Involved. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Tues.-Sun., 11 am-6 pm to Jan. 22, 2022, free no reservation required. Details and Covid protocols at Hammer Museum
A Peek at Next Week
Maria Bermudez’ Flamenco de la Buleria Jerez at Disney Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Sat., Nov. 27, 8 pm, $48. https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1425/2021-11-27/flamenco-fiesta-de-la-buleria-jerez.
Irish Dance in Christmas from a Celtic Table at Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Mon., Nov. 29, 8 pm, $30-$80. https://ci.ovationtix.com/35720/pr/1073039/pe/10816301.
Westside Ballet The Nutcracker at the Broad Stage, Sat., Nov. 27 & Dec. 4, 1 & 5 pm, Sun., Nov. 28, 1 pm, $50. https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/WestsideBallet/4547.
American Contemporary Ballet Nutcracker Suite at ACB studios 926 N. Sycamore Ave., 6th Floor, Hollywood; Nov. 26-Dec. 24, $25-$140, https://www.acbdances.com/
New Dance Films: Live & Online
Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company in FINDING MEEMOO – Directed by Jamila Glass – Photo by Zack Whitford
Looking for something?
Not a live performance, but definitely a live film premiere as LA Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) unveils FINDING MEEMOO featuring the company dancers and the five-year old son of artistic director Jamila Glass who also was the film’s executive director. The dancers include Christian Beasley, Kate Coleman, Hyosun Choi, Jamila Glass, Nicole Hagen, Tess Hewlett, JM Rodriguez, Ryan Ruiz, Angel Tyson, and Colleen Hendricks. At dots SPACE, 3951 Higuera St., Culver City; Thurs., Nov. 18, 6:30 pm, $5- 30 & 8 pm. $20-$30. Details on the related family-friendly activities, tickets, and Covid protocols at https://findingmeemoo.funraise.org/
The Scarlet Stone – Photo by James Carmody.
A myth extended
Drawing a contemporary perspective on ancient Persian mythology, The Scarlet Stone (Moher-ye Sorkh) combines traditional and contemporary Persian dance, music and animation to find parallels between the ancient legend and the 1979 Iranian Revolution along with its aftermath. The 80-minute film in Persian with English subtitles has been extended online thru Nov. 30. Free, online at Tirgan.
“Films.Dance Round 2.” Photo courtesy of the artists.
Back for more
In January 2021, LA choreographer Jacob Jonas and his Jacob Jonas/The Company began a weekly roll out of 15 short dance films with artists from around the world under the banner Films.Dance. The project earned boasting rights with many of the films later winning film festival awards. Now comes Films.Dance Round Two, again with dance, dancers, and filmmakers from around the world. The original films, a preview, and e-mail sign up for free weekly film delivery at Films.Dance.
Featured Image: Head Over Heels. Photo by Jeff Lorch
Ann Haskins Blog appears at CulturalDaily.com
