The Music Center has announced the talent lineup for the 65th Annual, two-time Emmy® award-winning L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Tuesday, December 24. This wonderful display of Los Angeles’s diverse cultural music and dance was founded in 1959 and continues to highlight and support local artists in this spread out City of Angeles. The L.A. County Holiday Celebration is free but tickets are required. For more information, visit holidaycelebration.org.
LA Country Holiday Celebration – Photo by Timothy Norris for The Music Center.
The L.A. County Holiday Celebration is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and presented at The Music Center’s Dorothy Pavilion every Christmas Eve. If one is unable to attend this unique three-hour spectacular in person, audiences may watch the performance on television from the comfort of their own homes at PBS SoCal, online at pbssocal.org and on the free PBS App.
Le Petite Cirque LA – Photo courtesy of the artists.
The new producing team, Milktmade and Executive Producer Lindha Narvaez, will continue to provide audiences with a lineup of new artistic genres including circus act, Le Petit Cirque LA and a marionette performance by the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre. As in previous years, there will be performance by dance companies, music ensembles and choral groups.
Victory Praise Dancers – Photo courtesy of the artists.
“This year’s L.A. County Holiday Celebration will demonstrate the County’s commitment to inclusivity and response to the interests of even more Angelenos,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “The show will be exciting, building on its 65-year history, while offering new experiences that will resonate with both long-term fans and those who will enjoy it for the first time.”
Afro Peruvian Experience – Photo courtesy of the artists.
There is a wide range of artists which incorporates 28 Los Angeles-based artists and several pre-produced mini-documentaries to highlight some of the artists’ unique stories.
The program will include returning favorites as well as artists who are new to the L.A. County Holiday Celebration. For our LA Dance Chronicle readers, the list of dance companies that will perform on the Dorothy Pavilion state include:
- Afro Peruvian Experience spreads and promotes the cultural diversity of Peru from the Afro-Peruvian voice.
- Ballet Folklórico de Esperanza showcases first-generation college-bound students from Ezperanza Prep.
- Daniel Ho & Hālau Hula Keali’i o Nālani performs Ho’s original songs in English and Hawaiian with captivating hula choreography.
- Joya Kazi Entertainment elevates Indian classical and Bollywood styles into the mainstream.
- Kim Eung Hwa & Korean Dance Academy preserves and shares the vibrant art of Korean traditional dance and music.
- BIPOC and international dance artist Martha L. Z. Pamintuan & Long Beach City College
- Reverb Tap Company will showcase fierce footwork and style, tap dancing to a jazz-based score, honoring and preserving the history of the art form with this rich tribute while bringing a youthful, vibrant and unexpected twist to the stage.
- Straight Up Abilities All Star Dance team, made up of exceptionally talented individuals with disabilities, will perform an excerpt from The Nutcracker ballet.
- Victory Praise Dancers is a community-based dance ministry comprised of youth who express themselves through movement to send a message of hope and redemption.
- Yaya Dance Academy bridges Eastern and Western culture, fusing elements of Asian dance with ballet, jazz and modern.
Kim Eung Hwa Korean Dance Company – Photo courtesy of the artists.
Returning musical ensembles include the vibrant, non-denominational Christian Fellowship Chorale; acclaimed Latin music ensemble Gabrielito y La Verdad; L.A.’s beloved Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles; all-female mariachis Las Colibrí; the delightful MUSYCA Children’s Choir; award-winning Palmdale High School Choral Union and Sunday Night Singers; Ricardo Lemvo and his band Makina Loca, blending Afro-Cuban rhythms with pan-African styles; a cappella and handbell ensemble The Citrus Singers; and Urban Voices Project, a choir comprised of men and women surviving homelessness on Skid Row.
Reverb Tap Company – Photo by Timothy Norris for The Music Center.
New this year are Soul singer-songwriter Andre Cruz; award-winning jazz vocalist Anji Tan & Friends; dynamic, all-Queens Afro Brazilian drum ensemble Bloco Obini; Bavarian band Ladyhosen; all-female independent band Mariachi Lindas Mexicanas; Masanga Marimba playing popular music from Africa and Latin America; Le Petit Cirque LA; and the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre.
Straight Up Abilities All Star Dance Team – Photo courtesy of the artists.
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WHAT: The 65th Annual, two-time Emmy® award-winning L.A. County Holiday Celebration
WHEN: Free, ticketed in-person event: Tuesday, Dec. 24 from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.
A live broadcast of the show airs on PBS SoCal on Tuesday, Dec. 24 from 3 p.m.–6 p.m., with an encore on PBS SoCal Plus on Wednesday, Dec. 25 from 8 p.m.–11 p.m.
Live streaming at pbssocal.org
WHERE: The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
PARKING: FREE in The Music Center parking garage.
ADMISSION: FREE but tickets are required; Tickets available at holidaycelebration.org.
HOW: Information hotline: (213) 972-3099 or holidaycelebratrion.og.
Doors will open at 2:30 p.m.; there will also be a standby line for anyone interested in attending, but who may not have a ticket. Entry without a reserved ticket is not guaranteed. Ticket holders arriving after 3:30 p.m. will relinquish their reserved seats and be directed to the standby line.
Written and compiled for LA Dance Chronicle from information provided by Lucy Pollak Public Relations.
Featured image: Joy Kazi Entertainment – Photo courtesy of the artists.
