LA Dance Review

The contemporary dance world is at a crossroads, grappling with globalism, hyper-interconnectedness, and informational access in a way that may be pushing the art form toward the obscure, the uncertain, the vague, the unknowable—as evidenced in the evening of dance last weekend at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City, presented by ate9 and Jacob […]

Nostalgia is the word that comes to mind when reflecting on the performance of Home by Re:Born Dance Interactive and choreographer Boróka Nagy. A cast of nine performers (Jonathan Bahn, Jestoni Dagdag, Krissy Gullen, Simon Harrison, Kristy Hwang, Katie Marshall, Boróka Nagy, Hyoin Jun, and Katie Walsh) were clothed in dresses and slacks reminiscent of […]

The New Original Works (NOW) at REDCAT, in the heart of downtown LA, is a long-standing three-week festival that features a unique three-part bill each week. This year, the festival opened with a bang, hosting a surreal music experience by Eliza Bagg, Rohan Chander, and George R. Miller; a somatic storytelling ritual by Meena Murugesan; […]

Last weekend, the city of Ventura hosted its annual Artwalk on Main Street and the surrounding downtown plazas. The event included dozens of colorful artist booths of all sorts, live music, and a handful of dance performances, including Olivia Mia Orozco’s site-specific performance of Arból de la Vida. Orozco’s company, Performative Pop-ups, celebrates the unique […]

Led by choreographer and director Seda Aybay, a cast of six incredible Kybele Dance Theater members transformed Highways Performance Space into an alchemist’s laboratory in a show titled Simyaci (Alchemist). Turkish-born Aybay designed and led the immersive movement experience, which included a pre-show video, guided movement opportunities, spontaneous duets with audience members, and a culminating […]

The immersive event, entitled Our Dancer’s Project, produced by the socially progressive company, Bodies in Play, on April 13th at LA Dance Project, is one that a written description can never do proper justice to. Envisioned and directed by company founder and facilitator Andrew Pearson, the ensemble cast (Cristina Florez, Darby Epperson, Celine Kiner, Tiffany […]

This March, the 8th Annual International Women’s Day Dance Festival, produced and coordinated by MashUp Contemporary Dance in Los Angeles, featured another stunning showcase of female and non-binary choreographers. The weekend included many events, including classes, workshops, and discussion panels, surrounding the essential topic of access and inclusion for women in dance. This year, the […]

Azuki Umeda’s dance work, how I became kinder, and kinder, closed the six-week dance series Dance at the Odyssey last weekend at the Odyssey Theater. The evening-length work developed her Master’s thesis work from CSU Long Beach as a debut concert work in the LA dance scene. The result of two years of research, the […]

Summation Dance/LA enjoyed its West Coast debut performance last weekend at Los Angeles Dance Project, presenting an evening-length work entitled on our way home, choreographed by company co-founder Taryn Vander Hoop. The hour-long work was presented alongside a new piece by LA-based dance maker Derion Loman, entitled dirty laundry. Presented in the lovely downtown, black […]

Ricky Cole and Byron Bucao brought the heat and hype to Ventura County with their festival celebration of dance called Welcome to the 805. Hosted in Oxnard at the Oceanview Pavilion on November 12, the event showcased primarily hip-hop dance and crew-style performances. Between the matinee and evening performances, Cole and Bucao provided a fantastic […]