Ann HaskinsThis week's dance events include a site specific performance on the Red Line and several events considering Trisha Brown's 50-year career.
6. Dance on the roof
A month-long celebration of New York choreographer Trisha Brown crests this weekend with two different performances at UCLA's Royce Hall plus outdoor performances, some free, at UCLA, the Hammer Museum and the Getty Center. Part of the 1960's post modern dance movement centered at New York's Judson Church, Brown's 50-year career defies easy categorization and explains why this Trisha Brown Retrospective Project involves so many different events. Long before Cirque du Soleil, Brown harnessed a dancer who bounced and twirled down the side of a building. That 1970 work, Man Walking Down the Side of a Building, is recreated Friday night at 6 p.m. with Bandaloop's Amelia Rudolph performing down the side of UCLA's art building. That free event precedes the first of two proscenium performances by Trisha Brown Dance Company at Royce Hall with four dances surveying Brown's deft eye for movement, wry humor and shifting concerns over five decades, what Brown calls her “cycles”.
Saturday offers another free event, this time Brown's 1973 Roof Piece, with a dozen dancers playing a terpsichorean game of “telephone” on the rooftops of the Getty Center. Sunday offers another Royce Hall concert with four more dances and an ongoing installation continues daily at the Hammer. Brown, now 76, announced last month that she was withdrawing from leading her eponymous company, turning it over to two long-term associates. That announcement sadly injected an unintended literal meaning into this retrospective. For a complete listing of events go to www.cap.ucla.edu/tbdc/. At UCLA Broad Art Center, Wstwd.; Fri., April 5, 6 p.m., free; Also at UCLA Royce Hall, 340 Royce Dr., Wstwd.; Fri., April 5, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 7, 2 p.m.; $20-$55. www.cap.ucla.edu. Also at J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, W.L.A.; Sat., April 6, 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.; free. www.getty.edu/museum. Also at UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Wstwd.; thru Sun., April 21, check for times, free. www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/detail/exhibition_id/233.
See also:
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A.
5. Dance along the Red Line
Performers in subways are not news. But choreographer Stephan Koplowitz unveils Red Line Time the first sanctioned performance on L.A.'s Red Line. A possible contender for the Guiness Book of Records for the longest distance performance, Red Line Time dancers begin at Union Station then travel the Red Line to perform site specific events at each of the 14 Red Line metro stations extending to North Hollywood. Dancers include Rachel Butler-Green, Roya Carreras, Leslie Curtis, Nick Duran, Monica Mordaunt, Kerrie Schroeder, Alexandria Yalj, Sadie Yarrington and Jacob Campbell. For more detail go to www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/en10753319v.htm. Audience members can join the dancers at Union Station, East Portal, next to the Customer Center, 800 Alameda St., dwntwn.; Fri., April 5 9 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Sat., April 6, 4 p.m.; $5 Metro one day TAP card.
L.A. Contemporary Dance Company; Credit: Photo by Arianne MacBean
4. Dance at the Brewery
Sometimes the allure of watching a dance performance comes from seeing the latest from an intriguing choreographer. Or perhaps the attraction is the chance to experience an extraordinary dancer. L.A. Contemporary Dance Company's Then. Now. Onward! boasts both, offering almost an excess of riches. Established choreographer Arianne MacBean, emerging dancemaker Lindsey Lollie and company artistic director Kate Hutter each contribute a new work, but the frosting on the cake is guest artist Charlie Hodges. A destination dancer for those in the know, Hodges danced with several ballet companies before making a major spash in Twyla Tharp's jukebox dance musicals Movin' Out, The Times They Are a Changin' and Come Fly Away. L.A. had a chance to be wowed most recently when Hodges danced at Disney Hall with Benjamin Millepied's L.A. Dance Project. Longtime friends Hodges and Hutter dance their collaboration Unravel. Catch a preview of the evening at www.lacontemporarydance.org/media. At Diavolo Performance Space, 616 Moulton Ave., Los Angeles; Thru April 6, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 7, 7 p.m., $20 online, $25 at door, onward.brownpaperticket.com. 323-225-4290.
Credit: Lux Aeterna
3. Dance from the street
L.A. crews move their dance from the street to the stage in Street Dance L.A.. This is the latest iteration of the sold-out shows at USC earlier this year. Particpating companies include Versa-Style, Lux Aeterna and The Underground. At Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., mid-Wilshire; Fri., April 5, 8 p.m., $25, $15 students. 323-964-9768. ebonyrep.org.
Los Angeles Ballet dancers Julia Cinquemani and Christopher Revels; Credit: Photo by Reid Hutchison
2. Balanchine Goes Hollywood
The Los Angeles Ballet concludes the first half of its three-month Balanchine Festival celebrating the ballets, the life and the legacy of George Balanchine. In addition to four of Balanchine's masterworks, the pre-performance Balanchine Talks features L.A. Times dance critic Lewis Segal discusses Balanchine's Hollywood career and screens rare film clips. Details on the second half of the festival and tickets at www.LosAngelesBallet.org. At Cal State University Long Beach, Richard & Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St.; Sat., April 6, 7:30 p.m., $18-$95, www.losangelesballet.org., 562-985-7000. www.carpenterarts.org.
Not Man Apart Physical Dance Theater; Credit: Photo by William Roden
1. Double dance
NorCal and Socal share the stage. Locally-based, Not Man Apart considers love and loss in Falling…. Carmel Valley-based SpectorDance contributes Ocean, the dancing augmented with filmed interviews with experts who discuss why the ocean's health cannot be taken for granted. The two troupes repeat the concert in Monterey in May. But this week they are at Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice; April 5-6, 8:30 p.m., $30-$100, $20 children under 12 & seniors over 65, falling.brownpapertickets.com. 310-306-1854. electriclodge.org.
See also:
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A.
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