Louise Reichlin and Dancers/LOS ANGELES CHOREOGRAPHERS and DANCERS work tirelessly every year to coordinate and host the dance portion of the Annual San Pedro TriArts festival in early fall. The outdoor festival (held waterside at the Harbor), features a number of local and regional dance groups from a variety of backgrounds and aesthetics. It’s a true celebration of the diversity of the LA region and the multi-faceted face of dance as an artistic and cultural practice.
This past Saturday, the festival hosted a free preview performance highlighting a handful of the performing artists at the Alvas Showroom, an established dance studio and performance space in San Pedro. Performed for a packed house, the show was energetic and well received.
The evening began with Authentic:Groove the brainchild of Jamie Carr. The work was an
improvisational collaboration of a trio of dancers with live musicians seated on the floor. The result was a contemporary modern exploration, drawn from a Gaga-based movement palette with oozing torsos, strong free flow in the limbs, and athletic use of lunging legs.
The evening continued with the San Pedro City Ballet under the direction of Cynthia and Patrick Bradley. These pre-professional dancers are an absolute joy to watch in their colorful dresses, high-waisted white tutus, and contagious smiles. Dancing to music of La La Land, the young dancers blended classical ballet form with a show-stopping musical flare. 
Louise Reichlin presented two pieces on the concert. The first piece of repertory was Invasion, and through exchanges between the dancers’ colorful sleeves, Reichlin communicated the inevitable blending of cultures as we come together and adopt and adapt in turn. The second piece, excerpts from A Jewish Child, was a whimsical almost fairytale-like dance drama retelling Reichlin’s personal history as a child with dreams for the future.
The dancers each had a character to play and ranged from the biblical characters of Miriam and Judah Maccabee to the little girl idols of a ballerina and Wonder Woman. The dance featured Reichlin’s signature ballet-based technique with a Denishawn flavoring in the theatricality and presentation. This was a fun dance for the children in the audience and child-like audience members as well.
Anacia Weiskittel’s pre-professional Degas Dance Studio represented their high caliber of training with a stunning duet of dancers. The young male began the piece with a powerful and nuanced contemporary solo with exquisite classical ballet line and remarkable technical skill. His solo was followed by the young female who utilized her long limbs in both quirky and classical gestures. The expression of both dancers was charming as they came together and danced around a table and chairs in a playful partnership that communicated a charming, vintage feel.
JRick and the Hot Flashers are a one-of-a-kind troupe. Comprised of female dancers over 50 and charismatic JRick who celebrates a bold 70 years of age, this group of dancers is just plain fun. Good music, good moves, a rockin’ time to the hits of Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson.
White Crane Dance Theatre is new to the LA dance scene and showed a stunning piece entitled Flow, complete with video projections of our beautiful California coast. The waves washed in and out for the duration of the piece as the trio of dancers emerged from the surf in undulations of floating and falling. Dressed in elegant white, these mature female dancers added a sense of confidence and gravitas to the evening of dance. The use of projection was well balanced as the piece concluded with the women rejoining the waves and disappearing into the water. 
As a taster, this preview was an excellent sampler of what is to be expected from the TriArts Festival stage this weekend at the San Pedro Harbor. So, get your sun hat and sunscreen ready as you head to the harbor for a sure to please event that is 100% free and open to all!
For more information please visit triartsp.com.
*Performance also included excerpts of Jeans and Jazz by Megill & Company.
LA Dance Review 
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