Benn Widdey

Classical Thai dance master Pichet Klunchun and French Jérôme Bel; photo by Association R.B. REDCAT, our local window into new and experimental performance from around the world, is bringing Pichet Klunchun and Myself to its theater this weekend. Choreographed by Frenchman Jérôme Bel and performed by he and classical Thai dance master Pichet Klunchun, the work is both a lively debate and a physical demonstration of contemporary and classical dance styles and traditions. Described...

photo of the Batsheva Dance Company in MAX, courtesy of the company World renowned Batsheva Dance Company returns to UCLAlive’s Royce Hall to present the L.A. premiere of MAX on Saturday and Sunday night, Feb. 28-March 1. This new work by award winning choreographer Ohad Naharin is an evening length piece for 10 dancers that continues Naharin’s research into the roots, origins and essence of movement. The highly refined choreography investigates notions of structure,...

photo of Juanita Suarez by Steve Clarke; courtesy of the Latina Dance Project A year and a half ago, the Latina Dance Project brought their latest dance theater production to the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. The four members of the company presented a picture of the world as seen through the eyes of highly accomplished dance artists/educators whose cultural backgrounds reach to Mexico, Brazil and the southwest USA. Perhaps opening some theatergoers’ eyes...

Oni Dance in wasteland ( arrival Maria Gillespie brought Oni Dance, her company of strong, charismatic and engaging dancers, to a rarely used performance space in Santa Monica last weekend. Premiering wasteland ( arrival, she presented the evening length work in the round in the hundred year old home of the Santa Monica Bay Women's Club. Built early in the twentieth century and right off the 3rd Street Promenade, the room already had its...

Photo: Grant Barbeito/courtesy of the company The almost-new kids on the LA concert dance block, calling themselves Body Traffic, are presenting renowned Israeli choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver's Transfigured Night at the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles this Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Set to Arnold Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht, the six member company will be accompanied by a live string sextet from the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony under the direction of concertmaster Mark Kashper....

Joe Goode Performance Group Returning to the Irvine Barclay Theater for another of its quasi-regular appearances there, the Joe Goode Performance Group will present the southern California premiere of Wonderboy this Friday for one show only! Known and highly acclaimed for his integration of movement, visual imagery and the spoken word, Goode’s 20+ year old company will perform this newly-created work, an intimate story of an unlikely superhero. Realized through inspired movement and the...

Maria Gillespie has been dancing in LA for the past dozen years, exciting audiences with her strength, power and fluidity in the work of other choreographers. Forming Oni Dance in 2005 to showcase her own dance-making, the company has performed in venues as prestigious as the Getty Center, REDCAT, the Ford Amphitheater and Highways Performance Space, as well as several other venerable locales. The company has spent the last two years bringing work to...

Re-arranging the cavernous Diavolo Dance Space to seat the audience on all four sides of the "stage," the California Touring Project opened our eyes to some inventive and entertaining new dances. Choreographed and performed by artists from both the north and the south of our golden Mecca, the evening was filled with samples of good dancing, creative minds and solid performances. The four choreographers on this year's edition of the two-year-old traveling institution presented work...

Now in its second year, the California Touring Project will finally arrive in Los Angeles! A shared program of cutting edge dance work by some of our state's finest experimental choreographers and directors, the event happens this weekend at the Diavolo Dance Space in the Brewery Arts Complex downtown. Created as a way to build community and create touring opportunities for non-mainstream dance in our struggling cultural landscape, the project has previously been featured...

Bradley Michaud's Method Contemporary Dance Company opened up its fourth season with a three-night stand at the Diavolo Dance Space in the Brewery Arts Complex this past weekend. Having seen last year's evening length premiere, I was happy to see the choreographer's growth as a dance maker and the evolution of his company. The best moments were in Michaud's solo, MANIFESTO, which he subtitles A piece I made about some things I believe. Walking around...