Benn Widdey

Pioneering dance innovator Merce Cunningham died of natural causes this past Sunday at his home in New York City. At the age of ninety and having already influenced thousands of dancers and choreographers across the globe, the impact of his artistry will continue to be felt in his absence. The recipient of countless awards and international honors, the always forward-thinking creator only recently announced plans for his legacy to remain true to its origins. His iconoclastic dance technique, related to ballet but tilted, extended and re-imagined beyond ballet’s range, has been documented, codified and disseminated in the teachings of many of his previous company members and the many who trained at his studio in the West Village.

Ayana Hampton | Photo: Blackantphotography The 6th Annual New Original Works Festival opens this week and runs for three weekends at REDCAT, the theater at the basement of Disney Hall downtown. Programming an assortment of dance, theater, and music events to share a single performance, the festival’s history has been adventurous and the LA Weekly calls it "one of the city's more eclectic and vital performance festivals." The mission of the festival isn’t to...

photo by Keith Weng I think we all learned that the United States is a melting pot of people and cultures and that it began that way and continues in that direction, in spite of recent immigration hassles. Award winning choreographer/director Keith Glassman has taken off from that fact and created Far From Home, a multimedia, interdisciplinary evening length piece he will premiere this weekend at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica (June 26-27)....

Photo courtesy Erika Janunger/Dance Camera West For the eighth year in a row, Dance Camera West will host the Dance Media Film Festival in multiple sites throughout the city from June 5-21. Beginning this Friday and Saturday with three programs screening 31 local and international short (and longer) films at REDCAT downtown, the highly acclaimed festival explores the intersection of cinematography and choreography. Chosen by Los Angeles Magazine as “Pick of the Month” (June...

OK, we've all heard The Four Seasons, Vivaldi’s classic musical masterpiece that has served as the mainstay for every symphonic orchestra across the globe, scored or inspired many films and has even been turned into muzak to entertain you in your nearest elevator. Well, leave it to the French and Ballet Preljocaj to put a contemporary spin on this tried-and-true aural landscape and make it jump (a video clip is below, it's pretty amazing)....

Photo of Marc Bamuthi Joseph by Bethanie Hines, courtesy of REDCAT Having earned accolades for his post-hip hop performance work from both national and international audiences, the former National Poetry Slam champion and Oakland, CA resident Marc Bamuthi Joseph/The Living Word Project brings the break/s: a mixtape for stage to REDCAT this Wednesday through Sunday. Having recently performed in the White House for President Obama's inauguration, promotional materials say that the new work "deftly...

Photo of Meg Wolfe and Gregory Barnett by Mathu Andersen The contrasting title sounds ominous. Artist-run production company Show Box is presenting the premiere of Tender, a new dance by local choreographer Meg Wolfe in collaboration with dancer Gregory Barnett with visiting artist Karen Sherman's Demolition Boy (from Minneapolis). All this is happening at Highways Performance Space this Friday through Sunday nights. Wolfe has been an active and catalytic member of the LA dance...

photo of Dance by Neil Greenberg by Erin Baiano Recently relocated to Riverside from New York City, acclaimed postmodern choreographer Neil Greenberg brings his company to REDCAT this week (ONLY Wednesday through Friday nights) to present Really Queer Dance with Harps. A former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Greenberg has been awarded many honors (including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Bessie Award) and is now on the faculty of UC Riverside's Experimental...

photo of David Rousseve/REALITY by Jorge Vismara Dance/theater creator David Roussève has come a long way from his Texas/Creole roots. He and his LA-based company REALITY have been invited by a small conglomerate of sponsors and presenters to present Saudade in Freud Playhouse as part of the UCLAlive current season this Wednesday through Sunday night. A Herb Alpert, COLA and Guggenheim award winner, the artist has performed all over the world, though his company...

Deborah Rosen & Dancers Photo © Paolo Focardi For the fourth year running, "impresaria" Jamie Nichols is presenting what she calls "9 of the most cutting edge dance companies in Los Angeles" for one performance only, this Saturday, March 14th in Celebrate Dance at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale. With a program that includes many of the recent winners of LA's concert dance Oscars (aka the Lester Horton Awards), these short works are...