San Pedro’s Outdoor Dance Treat

Every year, the San Pedro Festival of the Arts–an event coordinated by Louise Reichlin/Los Angeles Choreographers and Dancers–serves as a smorgasbord of Southern California Dance samplings, and this year was as delightful as ever. The event featured 19 pieces from a selection of companies who took the temporary stage at Peck Park under the welcoming California sun last Saturday. 

Interspersed among the program were a great variety of works–jazz, modern and contemporary, and traditional world dance, in small and large ensembles, trios, duets, and solos. There were far too many to cover intimately in this article, but in broad strokes I’ll paint a picture of the event and its participants.

Vanessa Kanamoto, Vidushi Sumangala Vijaykumar Varun, Southern California Dance Theatre (Andrew Tiamzon), and Maya Kell Abrams all performed engaging solos. Andrew Tiamzon’s pointe solo explored surges of passionate athleticism balanced by a feminine free flow, while Maya Kell Abrams showed strong force and masculine energy through a martial arts-house dance fusion choreography.

Of the duets and trios, Re:borN Dance Interactive and Santa Barbara City College captured the audience’s attention. SBCC’s trio endlessly interlaced limbs, evoking the image of a delicately, unfurling white rose with their choreography. In their duet, Re:borN modeled connection through the giving and taking of support between the dancers as well as a variety of lifts, Katrina Ji, Katie Marshall and Jose Costas Contempo Ballet also delighted with their respective trio and duet.

Jazz Spectrum, Degas Dance Studio, and AkomiDance Inc. each represented Jazz dance through a different lens.  Degas Dance Studio showcased talented and ambitious young dancers as promised. The dancers performed with great technique and fabulous gusto, fitting for a youth group so near to entering the professional world. Not only were the teen dancers impressive, but the audience also got to see the progression of some of their younger age groups.

Five of the pieces shown at the festival fall under the category of traditional world dance, some of which I’ve already mentioned above; Vidushi Sumangala Vijaykumar Varun, Katrina Ji, Arpana Dance Company, Pasion Flamenca Los Angeles, and the Sahlala Dancers all are dedicated to showing traditional forms from across the world. Arpana’s classical Indian choreography, impressed the audience with the incredible movement quality and eye expressions in while Sahlala’s use of props, including fans and costumes, mesmerized the audience with their Middle Eastern dance offering. 

There were four contemporary/modern pieces: Alice Lousen & Co, Kairos Dance Company, Megill and Company, and Louise Reichlin & Dancers. Louise Reichlin played with the motif of donning and doffing gray costume pieces over the dancers’ colorful unitards; revealing how the connections between people evolve over time. Using rhythmic stepping and quirky geometric body shapes paired with funk music, Alice Lousen’s dancers grooved with one another playfully. 

Overall, the San Pedro Festival of the Arts is an excellent opportunity for communities, families and friends across Southern California to experience the art of dancemakers in the area. With such a rich variety, there is certainly something for everyone to enjoy in the beautiful Peck Park location.