Our very own local contemporary dance company, BODYTRAFFIC, brings its eclectic repertory of internationally renowned choreography to The Wallis this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6-7. Presenting two evening productions at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m., the show includes a world premiere by Trey McIntyre, a full production premiere by Juel D. Lane and a West Coast premiere by Michael Neenan. “This Reminds Me of You” explores memory triggers — paintings, music and other unexpected reminders that, as promotional materials describe, “provoke deep feelings of nostalgia . . . and shape our future.”
Known for its virtuosic and versatile dancers, the ensemble has toured across the globe as cultural ambassadors to nations such as Israel, Jordan, South Korea, Algeria and Indonesia. Led by Juilliard-trained Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett, BODYTRAFFIC calls Los Angeles its home at this theater.
Company Creative Partner Mcintyre’s “Mayday” interweaves the music and life-cut-short history of iconic singer/songwriter Buddy Holly. The piece incorporates contemporary movement, balletic grace and 1950s rock to create a “playful, exuberant and bittersweet landscape.”
Honoring 20th-century African-American football player, actor, author and painter Ernie Barnes, “Incense Burning on a Saturday Morning: The Maestro” is Lane’s offering to this triptych program. The dance runs off of the artist’s abstracted vision of the elongated human body in motion and celebrates the Black experience in 1970s Harlem dance halls.
“I Forgot the Start” is the culmination of award-winning dancemaker Neenan’s 2023 residency with BODYTRAFFIC in Sun Valley, Idaho. The work is accompanied by a soundtrack that includes tunes by Sinéad O’Connor, Sufjan Stevens and Broken Social Scene as it illuminates “the relentlessness of hope.” Resilience and connection are tempered by life’s unpredictability in this Ballet X co-founder’s West Coast premiere.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION:
Bram Goldsmith Theater, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills90210
TICKETS:
$49-$79
https://tickets.thewallis.org/19235/19264
INFO:
https://thewallis.org/show-details/bodytraffic-2024
Katie García of BODYTRAFFIC / Photo by Guzmán Rosado