In a rare and enticing contemporary dance programming event, two Los Angeles-based and world-traveled companies, Danielle Agami’s ate9 and Jacob Jonas The Company, will share the stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre for two shows, Friday and Saturday, August 29-30, at 8 p.m.
In a production entitled “FOG,” the exquisite movers of the two independent ensembles will present two world premieres. Accompanied by live musicians for each unveiling, the artists reveal their individual aesthetics and compelling creations.
In “Soon After,” dance maker Agami and three other performers take off on a science fiction-type of adventure. Set to an original score played live by indie-rock and avant-garde composer Yuka Honda, the quartet represents a nuclear family and an angel arriving on a new planet. There, they search for traces of humanity in this foreign environment.
A trio featuring members of Jacob Jonas The Company will then release “GRIP,” choreographed by company namesake Jonas. This never-seen-before creation is described in promotional materials as “exploring pressure, protection and the emotional systems we hold beneath the surface.” Live Footage, an American electro-acoustic improvisational music act consisting of cellist Topu Lyo and drummer/keyboardist Mike Thies, will add to the aural landscape of “GRIP.”
Agami’s ate9 has had a quasi-nomadic existence, first starting out after the artist relocated from Tel Aviv and an illustrious history with the renowned Batsheva Dance Company to Seattle in 2012 and then to Los Angeles. More recently, it has developed a chapter in Paris, as it’s said on the company website, with “the ambition to create performances around the world, without borders.”
Describing itself as a collection of “disrupters, choreographers, makers, creative thinkers, cultural researchers, educators, futurists, activists and producers,” Jacob Jonas The Company took shape in 2013. It has since performed across the United States in prestigious venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, LA’s own Getty Museum and others. The artist has also choreographed for commercial entities and music videos and produces an online global platform for dance films.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION:
Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City 90232
TICKETS:
$55 – $75 www.jacobjonas.org/tickets
INFO:
Photo credit: ate9 “Soon After” dancers (l to r) Omri Drumlevich, Gianni Notarnicola and Billy Barry / Photo by Victoria Sendra