Continuing to show its support for Los Angeles-based dance artists, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble will open the New Year with its sixth annual Dance at the Odyssey festival January 13 through February 19, 2023. Each weekend will feature the work of a different company or choreographer including, in order of appearance, No)one. Art House; Roya Carreras and Assaf Salhov (New York); JA Collective; Jessie Lee Thorne’s Poets in Motion; Suchi Branfman’s Dancing Through Prison Walls; and DaEun Jung. Tickets are on sale now.
Weekend One – Friday, January 13 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m.: No)one. Art House, which creates stimulating and approachable movement-based artistic experiences in locations throughout Los Angeles, will present the world premiere of six short works by local choreographers based in contemporary, hip hop, and experimental styles.
Dance at the Odyssey – No)one.Art House – Photo by Matthew Brush
Weekend Two – Friday, January 20 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.: Choreographers Roya Carreras (Los Angeles) and Assaf Salhov (New York), will present the world premiere of Carreras’ movement monologues The Stories We Tell Ourselves that play on fantasy vs. reality; and Salhov’s The Song of Spies, a composition of dance and ancient songs featuring dancers Salhov and Nikki Holck. Carreras is an Iranian-Hispanic artist, choreographer, and educator who works within commercial, film, and theatrical settings from New York City to Los Angeles. Salhov is a choreographer, dancer, and performer working actively in New York City. He began his professional career as a dancer with Vertigo 2 Dance Company, and before returning to New York, he performed in Israel at Camri Theater in Tel Aviv.
Dance at the Odyssey – Nikki Holck in “Song of Spies” – Photo courtesy of The Odyssey
Weekend Three – Friday, January 27 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m: JA Collective, the creative cooperative of Los Angeles natives Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry, returns to the Odyssey with their unique combination of hip-hop, popping and conceptual improvisation blended with contemporary, ballet and theater.
Dance at the Odyssey – JA Collective – Wrenz Kaloogy – Photo by Jake Lanza
Weekend Four: Friday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m.: Jessie Lee Thorne’s Poets in Motion will explore the human response to retreat, disconnection and sitting alone in our dark places in times of pain with the world premiere work The Something In Between. Jessie Lee Thorne is a free-lance dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in Los Angeles who works in both commercial and Theatrical areas of dance.
Dance at the Odyssey – Jessie Lee Thorne’s Poet in Motion – Photo by David Orr
Weekend Five – Friday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m., and on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.: Dancer, choreographer, Educator and Activist Suchi Branfman created Dancing Through Prison Walls during a ten-year residency inside a medium-security state prison for men in Norco, California. For Dance at the Odyssey festival, Branfman will present DATA or 7 ways to dance a dance through prison walls. “Dancing Through Prison Walls is a California-based dance and performance project whose mission is to dance with, choreography with, and tell stories within, embodied carceral landscapes, amplifying voices of incarcerated folks, and addressing mass incarceration.” – Odyssey Webpage.
Dance at the Odyssey – Dancing Through Prison Walls – Photo by Ciro Hurtado
Weekend Six and closing of the festival – Friday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.: Byoulnorri by choreographer DaEun Jung features Pansori (Korean folk opera); electronic beats; irregular folk rhythms; Hangul (Korean alphabet system); and chance operation that deconstruct, reinterpret and transform classical Korean dance vocabulary. DaEun Jung is a dancer-choreographer who connects different times and spaces through her dance-making and movement practice. Her work has been presented at Electric Lodge, Highways, The Mortuary, Pieter, and REDCAT (LA) and Movement Research at Judson Church (NYC). On her website, Jung states that she “has redefined the principle, form, structure, and function of Korean classical/folk dance in inter/multi-cultural settings as a continuation of her graduate study at UCLA.”
Dancing at the Odyssey – DaEun Jung – Photo by Michael Palma
The 2023 Dance at the Odyssey festival is curated by Barbara Mueller-Wittmann. Beth Hogan and Barbara Mueller-Wittmann produce for Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.
Details for 2023 ‘Dance at the Odyssey’
WHAT:
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the sixth annual Dance at the Odyssey festival, a six-week celebration of contemporary dance featuring new work by cutting edge companies and choreographers.
WHEN:
• Jan. 13-15 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
No)one. Art House presents the world premiere of six short works by local choreographers based in contemporary, hip hop, and experimental styles.
• Jan. 20-22 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
Choreographers Roya Carreras (Los Angeles) and Assaf Salhov (New York) present the world premiere of Carreras’ movement monologues The Stories We Tell Ourselves that play on fantasy vs. reality, and Salhov’s The Song of Spies, a composition of dance and ancient songs.
• Jan. 27–29 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.): JA Collective returns to the Odyssey with their unique combination of hip-hop, popping and conceptual improv blended with contemporary, ballet and theater.
• Feb. 3–4: (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.):
Jessie Lee Thorne’s Poets in Motion explores the human response to retreat, disconnection and sitting alone in our dark places in times of pain with the world premiere work The Something In Between.
• Feb. 10–11: (Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.):
Dancing Through Prison Walls, developed by choreographer Suchi Branfman during a ten-year residency inside a medium-security state prison for men in Norco, California, will present DATA or 7 ways to dance a dance through prison walls
• Feb. 17–19 (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.):
Byoulnorri by choreographer DaEun Jung features Pansori (Korean folk opera); electronic beats; irregular folk rhythms; Hangul (Korean alphabet system); and chance operation that deconstruct, reinterpret and transform classical Korean dance vocabulary.
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WHAT: Dance at the Odyssey
WHERE:
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025
PARKING:
On-site parking lot: $5.
Street parking available.
TICKET PRICE:
$25
HOW:
www.OdysseyTheatre.com
(310) 477-2055 ext. 2
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle from a press release by Lucy Pollak Public Relations.
Featured image: Dancing at the Odyssey – DaEun Jung – Photo by Michael Palma
