Cuban influenced July 4th at Grand Park; West LA dance festival spotlights Mexican-American fluidity, Black queer collaborations, mafia considerations, and somatic explorations; downtown tap concert celebrates a decade, more SoCal dance this week, plus a peek at next week (July 12-17).
Live This Week
Festival week 2
The densely packed, three-week summer edition of Dance at the Odyssey festival enters its mid-point with Bernard Brown sharing the evening with Joey Navarrete-Medina and Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier. In Sugar Odyssey (or the undrowning), two Black, queer artists, choreographer/dancer Brown and sound artist DeFacto X, collaborate in a provocative consideration of the relationship of power, slavery, and otherness. In Fluid Identities: a dance of belonging, Mexican American dance artists Medina and Rodríguez-Frazier explore the fluidity of identity, gender, composition and energy. Full festival line up at the website. Odyssey Theatre, 2955 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West LA; Sat. July 6, 8 pm, $25, https://odysseytheatre.com/
Bernard Brown/bbmoves – Photo by Steve Rosa
Festival week #2
Dance at the Odyssey offers a matinee shared by Olivia Liberati and Intrepid Dance Project. In Mafiosi, Liberati looks at the five families who became the Italian-American mafia. Dancers include Amy Magsam, Tori Gorny, Tayler McGuire, Ande Godwin, Julia Gaspari and Liberati. A company based on the tenet that everyone can dance, Intrepid Dance Project presents a diverse cast for Taking Flight. Full festival line up at the website. Odyssey Theatre, 2955 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West LA; Sun., July 7, 2 pm, $25, https://odysseytheatre.com/
Dance at the Odyssey – Intrepid Dance Project – Photo by Art Documents.
Festival week #3
Opening the final week of Dance at the Odyssey festival, choreographer Leah Zeiger employs somatic technique and draws on her own experience of abuse and sexual violence in You Live in My Spine. Dancers Alexis Amundarain, Alondra Perez, Amanda Sun, and Amina Yufanyi tackle how emotional and physical memory, daily habits, and mindsets reside in the body. Full festival line up at the website. Odyssey Theatre, 2955 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West LA; Thurs., July 11, 8 pm, $25, https://odysseytheatre.com/
Leah Zeiger. Photo by David Zeiger
Tip tap
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Sarah Reich Tap Project‘s closing concert brings to the stage Derick Grant, Matthew Shields, Enrique Rosario, Joseph Wiggan, and Reich. The evening also honors the Colburn School’s tap and musical theater chair Denise Sheerer whose extensive stage credits include time with LA-based Jazz Tap Ensemble. The performance has a livestream option. Zipper Hall, Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Sat., July 6, 7:30 pm, $30. Livestream tickets $10. Tap Music Project 10th Year Celebration
Joseph Wiggan. Photo courtesy of the artist
A Cuban 4th
The dancers of KimBambula Cuban Dance & Music Ensemble join the DJs, live music, 800 drones, and a ferris wheel announced for this year’s Gloria Molina Grand Park 4th of July Block Party. Some performance schedule details are at the website. Grand Park, Backyard Stage, 200 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Thurs., July 4, 4 pm – midnight, free. https://grandparkla.org/
Book to stage
Following up on the burlesque parody, The Empire Strips Back, Russall T Beattie riffs on his coffee table book that tracked Gotham’s caped crusaders in comic books from 1919. What originally was announced as Gotham Follies of 1939, now is billed as Batette Follies of 1939. There will be dancing with vaudeville and burlesque along with irreverent parodies of the times and comic book personalities. Montalban Theatre, 1615 Vine St., Hollywood; Thurs.-Sun., thru Fri., July 14, 8 pm, $39-$154. https://www.themontalban.com/
A Peek at Next Week (07-12 to18)
LA Choreographers and Dancers at the Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City; Fri., July 12, 7 pm (preview), Sat.-Sun., July 13-14, 2 pm, $25. https://HEARTLACD.eventbrite.com
Ballet Hispánico – Doña Perón at the Music Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Fri.-Sat., July 12-13, 7:30 pm, Sun., July 14, 2 pm, $38-$149. https://www.musiccenter.org/
Ballet Hispánico in “Doña Peron” Choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa – Photo by Paula Lobo.
About….Productions – Ancestral Connections: Yanculia/Restoration at Plaza de la Raza, 3540 N. Mission Rd., Lincoln Heights; Thurs., July 18, 7 pm, Plaza de la Raza Also at the Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu; Sat., July 20, 3 pm, free. https://www.getty.edu/visit/cal/performances.html
Joan Jonas Mirror Pieces 1 & 2 at the Arrival Plaza, Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood; Sat.-Sun., July 13-14, 4 pm, free. https://www.getty.edu/visit/cal/events/ev_4216.html
Orange County Tap Festival – A Night in Time at the Shorebreak Hotel, 500 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach; Sun., July 14, 7:30 pm, $27-42. OC Tap Festival Concert
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood; Thurs., July 18, 8 pm, $15-$150. https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/events/performances
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández – Fiesta en Tlacotalpan – Photo courtesy of The Segerstrom Center
Dance DTLA – Reggaeton at the Music Center, Jerry Moss Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Fri., July 12, 7 pm, free. Music Center | Dance DTLA
Versa Style – Open Styles 1v1 Battle Qualifier at Mihran K Studios, 135 N. Victory Blvd., Burbank; Fri., July 17, 4 pm, $15. https://versastyledance.org.
Featured photo Bernard Brown – photo by Jim Carmody
Ann Haskins Blog appears at CulturalDaily.com
