A quartet of contemporaries in Pasadena, taking AIM in Beverly Hills, sacrificial spring rites and incarcerated romance downtown, a sound/movement mix in West LA, Spanish visitors in East LA, folk dance in Irvine, more SoCal dance this busy week, and a peek at next week.
Live This Week
Sacrifice to spring
Opening the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in LA, a brutal, visceral version of Rite of Spring on a stage covered in aromatic peat launched German choreographer Pina Bausch into international fame along with her company Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal. That stunning production from the late choreographer has been recreated under the auspices of the Pina Bausch Foundation on a company of 30 dancers drawn from 13 countries in Africa. The program also includes Common Ground(s), choreographers Germaine Acogny and Malou Airaudo’s response to Bausch’s Rite. Acogny is the founder of Senegalese École des Sables and Airaudo is a former dancer with Bausch’s company. The Music Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Thurs.-Sat., Feb. 8-10, 7:30 pm, Sun., Feb. 11, 2 pm, $35-$152. Music Center.
Pina Bausch’s “The Rite of Spring.” Photo by Stephanie Berger
Four by four
Since 2019, a consortium of dance companies based in the cities along the San Gabriels have presented themselves under the banner FOOTHILLS DANCEMAKERS. The group returns, offering a chance to sample perspectives on contemporary dance from a quartet of top notch LA-based companies: Benita Bike’s DanceArt, Pennington Dance Group, Nancy Evans Dance Theatre and Lineage Dance. Lineage Performing Arts Center, 920 E. Mountain St., Pasadena; Sat., Feb. 10, 7:30 pm, Sun., Feb. 11, 4 pm, $25, $20 students & seniors. Lineage PAC.
Nancy Evans Dance Theatre. Photo courtesy of the artists.
Cunningham considered
With highly trained dancers and emotive choreography, dancemaker Kyle Abraham and his company AIM by Kyle Abraham arrive with a program promising a blend of tradition and contemporary. On the blended end, MotorRover is Abraham’s invited contemplation of Merce Cunningham’s 1972 ensemble piece Landrover. Among the emotive and contemporary, the company offers a world premiere commissioned from Andrea Miller. The Wallis, Bram Goldsmith Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; Fri., Feb. 9, 7:30 pm, Sat., Feb. 10, 2 pm, $49-$79. The Wallis. [Editor’s Note: The Wallis has announced that this performance has been postponed and the new date is to be determined]
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham. Photo courtesy of the artists
Romeo & Juliet go to jail
The choreographer who transformed Swan Lake into a tale of ballet men in feathered knickers arrives with the 2019 Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet. Shakespeare’s star-crossed central lovers remain, as does Prokofiev’s seductively dissonant score, but the action has been moved from Verona, Italy to a dystopian prison/asylum and Juliet’s vile cousin Tybalt is now a sexually abusive warden. Bourne does darker with the best, yet still sets a standard for drawing out the poignant moments and bits of light in his shadowy retellings. Music Center, Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown; Tues.-Fri., 8 pm, Sat., 2 & 8 pm, Sun., 1 & 6:30 pm, thru Sun., Feb. 25, $35-$155. CTG.
Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet courtesy of the artists
Contemporary ballet from Spain
The Spanish ballet company Compañía Nacional de Danza made its mark under founder Victor Ullate, later under contemporary choreographer Nacho Duato, and since 2019 with artistic director Joaquín De Luz. Both Duato and de Luz are represented in the works scheduled for this visit, along with a third dance by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot. The Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr., East LA; Thurs., Feb. 15, 8 pm, 55-$195. https://luckmanarts.org/events/compania-nacional-de-danza/
Compañía Nacional de Danza. Photo courtesy of the artists
Kindly working on kindness
This year’s Dance at the Odyssey festival closes with how i became kinder, and kinder. Choreographer Azuki Umeda and seven dancers seek to unify movement with sounds from a score that includes music by Robert Gaar and Lucy Liyou. Press materials caution that Liyou’s sound score includes explicit language. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West LA; Fri.-Sat., Feb. 9-10, 8 pm, Sun., Feb. 11, 2 pm, $25. Odyssey Theatre
Azuki Umeda. Photo by Oswaldo Cepeda
A world of dance
An array of dance styles from around the world including Irish step dance, Indian folk fusion, Ukrainian hopak, and American clogging are parts of the repertoire Brigham Young University International Folk Dance Ensemble brings to the stage in Journey: Reflections at Irvine Barclay Theater, UC Irvine, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine; Tues., Feb. 13, 7 pm, $23-$31. The Barclay.
Just a peek
Aptly titled First Look, this informal performance series periodically offers an early glimpse at choreography being created by dancemakers in residence with LA Contemporary Dance Company. First up, highly praised Spenser Theberge who has been known to disregard the theater’s “fourth wall” and directly engage his audiences in his movement explorations. Stomping Ground, 5453 Alhambra Ave., El Sereno; Fri., Feb. 9, 2 pm, $5. https://www.lacontemporarydance.org/events/first-look
Spenser Theberge. Photo by Jacob Jonas
It’s make a dance month
Timed to coincide with national choreography month, Nachmo LA Showcase 2024 has two different nights of new choreography. Friday offers Jacob Bowers & Sierra Dallas, Sunday Baxter, Zion Regis & Calista Madzar, Nadine Tran, Lolly, Rachel Turner, William L. Miller, Jr., Eduard Sargsyan, Sofia Saenz & Grigori Arakelyan, Simran Kadam, Sean Derek, Sophia Fan Lin & Ariana Chavez, Marialyse Rudi, and Natalie Palmgren. Saturday includes Jacob Bowers & Sierra Dallas, Sunday Baxter, Cathy Taister, Robbie Downey, Lolly, William L. Miller, Jr., April Torres, Aparna Kumar, Joyce Lo, Jacob Bowers, Maggie Liang & Yinqi Wang, Pam Mueller, Saryh Deadmon & Kayley Huston, Jessica Bishop, and Paul Sivertsen. Stomping Ground, 5453 Alhambra Ave., El Sereno; Fri.-Sat., Feb. 9-10, 8 pm, $16 online, $22 at door, https://www.stompinggroundla.org/events/nachmo-la-showcase-2024.
Julia Eichten. Photo courtesy of the artist
Dancing an opera
A solo dancer/choreographer and a solo soprano join forces in ISOLA, a new opera from composer Alyssa Weinberg with text by J Mae Barizo, and choreography by Julia Eichten. A founding member of LA Dance Project, Eichten takes dual credit as choreographer and the dancer, reflecting the soprano, singer Ariadne Greif. This opening offering of the Long Beach Opera season is sold out as of press time with wait list at the website. Compound, 1395 Coronado Ave., Long Beach; Sat.-Sun., Feb. 10-11, 7:30 pm, sold out, wait list at https://www.longbeachopera.org/tickets.
A Peek at Next Week
Laguna Dance Festival at Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach; Thurs, Feb., 22, 6 pm, free w/reservation, Fri.-Sat., Feb. 22-24, 7:30 pm, Sun., Feb. 25, 2 pm, $60, $30 students https://lagunadancefestival.org/project/laguna-dance-festival-2024-festival/
Backhausdance at LA Dance Project, 2245 E. Washington Blvd., Arts District; Sat., Feb. 17, 8 pm, $30, $20 students. https://www.backhausdance.org/events
Backhausdance in “Scene Unseen” choreography by Jennifer Backhaus – Photo by Shawna Sarnowski
Laurie Sefton Creates – Herd. Person? at LA Dance Project, 2245 E. Washington Blvd., Arts District; Thurs.-Fri., Feb. 22-24, 8 pm, $30. https://www.lauriesefton.com/events
UCI Dance Visions at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, UC Irvine, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine;Thurs.-Fri., Feb. 22-23, 8 pm, Sat., Feb. 24, 2 & 8 pm, $30, $26 seniors, $10 students & children. AudienceView Professional
Featured image: Pennington Dance Group – photo by Denise Leitner
Ann Haskins Blog appears at CulturalDaily.com
