L.A. is filled with dance companies, especially contemporary dance companies, but few gain a public profile beyond the local dance community. Jacques Heim's Diavolo and Benjamin Millepied's L.A. Dance Project are two that emerged from the pack. BODYTRAFFIC is the latest contemporary dance troupe to make the move toward the big league. Founded in 2007, its emphatically all-caps name references both L.A.'s distinctive vehicular movement and dance's human motion. The planets aligned in the best way when BODYTRAFFIC artistic directors Lillian Barbeito and Tina Finkelman Berkett persuaded New York “it” choreographer Kyle Abraham to create a new work for their young troupe, and the premiere of the resulting Kollide collided with Abraham receiving a coveted MacArthur genius grant. BODYTRAFFIC's rave reviews from The New York Times, invitations to prestigious dance festivals and selection as one of Dance Magazine's “25 to watch” have created a rising tide of well-deserved attention. —Ann Haskins

(310) 923-2766, bodytraffic.com.

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