Dance tilts to West LA venues to start the new year as a Crenshaw-based contemporary company celebrates 45 years, a UCLA museum hosts a Congolese visitor, and a Westside theater opens a six-week dance fest; plus a peek at next week.
Live This Week
A long time with more to come
If there is an LA dance company that personifies the Sondheim survivor lyrics ‘Good times and bad times, I’ve seen them all, and my dear, I’m still here,” Lula Washington, with her eponymous Lula Washington Dance Theatre, certainly has confronted and overcome more than their share of adversity. For 45 years, the powerhouse choreographer, dancer, and mentor cultivated diverse generations of dancers and built a studio against financial odds and political headwinds. This performance launches this anniversary season with the premiere of Something to Think About , Washington’s homage to the late post modern choreographer Rudy Perez and a revival of Donald McKayle’s I’ve Known Rivers. The occasion, dedicated to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., also includes the MLK solo from The Movement set to an early Dr. King speech. Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz, 10361 W. Pico Blvd., WLA; Thurs., Jan. 16, 8:30 pm, $40, $25 students/seniors. https://www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com/
Lula Washington Dance Theatre. Photo courtesy of the artists.
On confabulation
Curated by co-founder Barbara Mueller-Wittman, the Dance at the Odyssey festival has proven a welcome showcase for new work presenting new ideas. Opening the six week Dance at the Odyssey festival, Alejandro Perez & Gretchen Ackerman return with a new work, Losing the truth of the thing. Their work at a prior festival gained praise for the effective blending of street and contemporary dance as well as Perez’ early mastery of directing the audience’s eye. This time the subject is how memory, without any intent to deceive, mistakenly recalls false information. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2955 S. Sepulveda Blvd., WLA; Sat., Jan. 11, 8 pm, Sun., Jan. 12, 2 pm, $25. https://odysseytheatre.com/
Alejandro Perez & Gretchen Ackerman Photo by Ale Carmona
And the festival goes on
The second entry in the 2025 Dance at the Odyssey festival, Brandon Mathis, comes with the caution that his ritual-based Vitellaria Paradoxa involves both nudity and the burning of sage. The 50-minute work draws on a jazz score to explore the meaning of being comfortable in one’s body. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2955 S. Sepulveda Blvd., WLA; Thurs.-Sat., Jan. 16-18, 8 pm, Sun., Jan. 19, 2 pm, $25. https://odysseytheatre.com/
Brandon Mathis. Photo by Brandon Mathis
A closer look
While a concert performance by Congolese dancer/choreographer Faustin Linyekula comes over the weekend, this gallery performance offers a more intimate encounter with this important African artist. The free event is full, but there is a wait list. UCLA Fowler Museum, 308 Charles E. Young Dr. North, Westwood; Thurs., Jan. 16, 6 pm, free, fully reserved, but wait list at https://fowler.ucla.edu/events/gallery-performance-faustin-linyekula
Faustin Linyekula. Photo by Sarah Imsand
A Peek at Next Week (January 17-23)
Faustin Linyekula – My Body, My Archive at UCLA, Freud Playhouse, MacGowen Hall, 245 Charles E Young Dr. East, Westwood; Sat., Jan. 18, 8 pm, $38. https://cap.ucla.edu/event/faustin-linyekula
Martha Graham Dance Company – 100th Anniversary at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Sat., Jan. 18, 7:30 pm, $44.07-$134.47. https://marthagraham.org/events/ Also at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., San Diego; Sat., Jan. 25, 7:30 pm, $70.50-$115.50. Homepage | La Jolla Music Society
Martha Graham Dance Company – Anne Souder, Kate Reyes, and So Young An in Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring – Photo by Melissa Sherwood
The Peking Acrobats at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Sat., Jan. 18, 8 pm, $55.37 $111.87. https://www.scfta.org/shows-events
Stomp at the Soraya, Cal State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; Sat., Jan. 18, 3 & 8 pm, Sun., Jan 19, 3 pm, $75-$95. https://thesoraya.org/en/
Featured image: Lula Washington Dance Theatre – photo by Asiko
Ann Haskins’ Blog appears at CulturalDaily.com
