Once again, the Odyssey Ensemble Theater Director Barbara Müller-Wittmann invites 10 new and established dance makers to take over their West LA space for the “Summer Edition” of “Dance at the Odyssey.” For this event, which began Saturday, June 21, and runs through Sunday, July 6, an eclectic and electrifying group of individuals and companies of creatives present premieres, works-in-progress and fan favorites for one or two shows during the series timeline.
On Thursday, June 26, at 8 p.m., TRIN Dance Theatre presents “The Greatest Show on Earth.” It is described in promotional materials as “daring, brutal, sensual, real. Clownery. Drag. Not boring.”
On Friday, June 27, at 8 p.m., Nastia Yavorski and ABSOLEM Dance Theatre bring its “fever dream,” “Bang! The Most Patriotic Show in the History of the United States of America” to the stage. Set in a nightclub, characters are revealed in an “ever-evolving society.” The performance is followed by a Q&A, where the audience can respond to these depictions and the work’s message as a “dance-theater love letter written out of American war history.”
On Sunday, June 29, at 5 p.m., choreographer and UCLA faculty member Victoria Marks, in collaboration with four performers, unveils “A Dear Walks into a Dance.” The ever-inquisitive artists raise the questions: “What can a dance do? And what do words do?” In the Q&A that follows, viewers are invited to give feedback to the artists as to how they answered those queries and how that relates to the audience’s own responses.
On Wednesday, July 2, and Thursday, July 3, at 8 p.m., project-based dance company TORRENT explores “the powerful intersection of psychology and physicality” in Caitlin Javech’s three dances within “Currents of the Mind.”
On Saturday, July 5, at 8 p.m., spectators “witness the absurdity of late-stage capitalism and cultural decay” in Maya Billig’s mixture of dance, theater and film in “Last Resort.”
On Sunday, July 6, at 5 p.m., two separate ensembles share the program. Corina Kinnear and Company presents “Forgotten Time,” and Jordan Saenz offers “The Shadow Poems.” In the former, the artist investigates “how our perceptions and memories affect the way we experience and remember time.” In the latter, a duet for the choreographer and Ariana Daub, the performers unearth “our deepest vulnerabilities: dysregulation, fear, surrender, grief and self-compassion.”
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION:
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West LA 90025
TICKETS:
$25 or three-performance festival pass is available for $60.
There’s a $3 handling fee on top of that if using a credit card.
INFO:
Photo of Nastia Yavorski and ABSOLEM Dance Theatre by Rafael Hernandez-Ispache