Independent of her highly acclaimed Los Angeles-based contemporary Ate9 Dance Company, choreographer/director/performer Danielle Agami is presenting a new, full-evening solo she calls “Off, to a good start” this Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m. Accompanied by cellist Isaiah Gage, these shows will entertain only 50 audience members at each production in the studio/theater of Live Arts Los Angeles. It will be preceded by a 15-minute act created and performed by Montay Romero and Jordan Lovestrand.
The headlining artist has offered the press no other information about this event, other than she’ll be “sharing pieces from her cluttered mind.” This writer’s interpretation of that fact suggests that Agami prefers that viewers create their own narratives while watching her move to Gage’s score, or that there may be some improvisational elements involved in the evening that can’t be predicted, or that what Agami demonstrates are excerpts from a work in progress that she’s not ready to confirm, or that she wants us to arrive without any predetermined expectations. Any and all of those situations may come into play or none of them. Each witness can accept or not accept what is delivered and define it on their own.
We do know that the dancemaker has sculpted some very interesting work for her virtuosic group of 10 dancers that has been seen in prestigious venues across the country. We also know that Agami has danced with the internationally renowned Batsheva Dance Company and is, herself, a teacher of the Gaga movement style developed with that ensemble’s previous director, Ohad Naharin. According to the website, Ate9 Dance Company has been focusing the past three months on a narrative film, directed by Diego Hurtado De Mendoza and choreographed by Agami.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
Location:
Live Arts Los Angeles, 4210 Panamint St., LA 90065
Tickets:
$20 – $30 https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTgxODc4
Info:
https://www.ate9online.com/calendar.html
Photo of Danielle Agami by Cheryl Mann