The LA Dance Festival starts this weekend. / Photo by Denise Leitner
For the seventh year running, the Los Angeles Dance Festival takes center stage to highlight the breadth of contemporary dance created by and with LA dancers and choreographers. Both concert and commercial (Hollywood) artists will strut their stuff April 12 to 28 at three theaters and four community centers across the city. Funded in part by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, this month-long event partners with the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), and the Diavolo Studio Black Box.
At each location, a handful of companies and individual artists share the program. During the first weekend, an LA Dance Photography exhibit will also be on view in the Luckman Theater lobby. Shows Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13, begin at 8:30 p.m. The Sunday, April 14, production starts at 6:30 p.m. At each of these Main Stage events, a pre-show performance by some of the pre-professional students that participating artists train in local colleges and high schools will get the audience ready for their mentors thereafter. A site-specific creation will be presented during every intermission.
The companies performing at this venue include Ate9, Backhausdance, BE MOVING, BODYTRAFFIC, BrockusRED, Bryn Cohn + Artists, CARLON, DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion®, HD Theater, Ido Tadmor, Invertigo Dance Theatre, Iris Company, Kevin Williamson + Rosanna Tavarez/ LA DANSA DANSA, Sarah Elgart /Arrogant Elbow, and String Theory.
The LADF Fringe Festival (second weekend) includes an eclectic assortment of movement artists, with additional offerings from guests from the Seoul International Dance Festival. These programs are presented twice each evening. On Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, shows start at 7 pm and 9:30 p.m. On Sunday, April 28, performances commence at 5 and 7 p.m. These productions are described in promotional materials as occurring in a more “urban” environment — founding partner Diavolo Dance Theatre’s studio theater in the Arts District.
The Fringe companies include Akomi Dance, Benevolence, Fabe Dance, Mecca Vazie Andrews, SiZa Dance Company, THE ASSEMBLY, Project21Dance, Bernard Brown/bbmoves, Nannette Brodie Dance Theatre, Ken Morris Project, Bodies in Play, FUSE Dance Company, Charlotte Katherine & Co, JESS HARPER & Dancers, Eternity Dance Theatre, S A U M A | m v m t, Pony Box Dance Theatre, Emergent, Deborah Rosen and Dancers, Carpool Dance Collective and Nancy Evans Dance Theatre.
Altogether, the festival is made of nine shows featuring 50 artists. Thirty-five classes taught by participating teachers occur at various times during the days at the Brockus Project Studios April 5-17 and April 27-28.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATIONS:
- Luckman Theatre, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, CSULA 5151 State University
Drive, LA 90032
- Diavolo Studio Black Box in the Arts District, 616 Moulton Ave., LA 90031
- Brockus Project Studios, 618 B Moulton Ave., LA 90031
TICKETS:
$15-$55 @ Luckman Theater
https://www1.ticketmaster.com/la-dance-festival/event/0B00565BD8423345?dma_id=324
$25 @ Diavolo Black Box
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4107535
$20-$100 for classes (1, 5, 10 class packages, some with tickets for shows)
https://ladancefest.org/classes
information:
https://ladancefest.org Phone for festival: 562-412-7429