CALIFORNIA: Laguna Dance Festival offers free and ticketed performances, master classes, pre-performance talks
Company:
Malpaso Dance Company, Alonzo King LINES Ballet and more
September 3–13 Festival includes a robust schedule of performances, master classes, free performances
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. – The September 3–13 Laguna Dance Festival will bring to the stage for two performances each two world-renowned dance companies, Malpaso Dance Company from Havana, Cuba and San Francisco’s Alonzo King LINES Ballet, plus two remaining free public dance presentations by Southern California choreographers, and three master classes.
Malpaso Dance Company will perform at the Laguna Playhouse for its West Coast premiere on Thursday, Sept. 10 and Friday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. with pre-performance talks in the theater at 6:30 p.m.
Repertory for the Cuban company’s Laguna engagement includes Despedida/Farewell, a work by company founder Osnel Delgado, set to music by Grammy Award-winning Cuban-American composer Arturo O’Farrill, a new commissioned work, Under Fire, choreographed by the adventurous Trey McIntyre, and Ronald K. Brown’s Why You Follow.
Delgado founded Malpaso Dance Company in 2012 with Dailedys Carrazana and Fernando Saéz. It consists of 10 dancers, including former members of Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. The contemporary dance company collaborates with leading international choreographers and nurtures new talent. www.MalpasoDance.com
Siobhan Burke of The New York Times wrote of the company’s 2014 international debut, “It’s impossible to choose favorites among the dancers, many of whom studied at Cuba’s National Ballet School. They have the pristine technique but none of the rigidity that comes with that kind of training, as comfortable on the ground — in coiling, capoeiralike flips and tricks — as they are in the air. They’re both humble and sparklingly present — and remarkably strong all around, with the men and women doing equal lifting.”
Festival founder and artistic director Jodie Gates commented, “With the recent thaw in relations between the United States and Cuba, we leaped at the opportunity to introduce this energetic young troupe to Southern California audiences. This, its first performance in the western region of North America, is an exciting event for everyone involved.”
A Laguna Dance Festival favorite, Alonzo King LINES Ballet comes to town for a Saturday, Sept. 12 performance at 7:30 p.m., followed by an artists’ reception (attended also my Malpaso artists), and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. This is the first time the festival has presented a full program of Alonzo King’s choreography danced by LINES Ballet. The evening will include Biophony, a well-received new collaborative work that unites King’s choreography with natural soundscape artist Bernie Krause and composer Richard Blackford. LINES dancers will also perform Concerto for Two Violins, choreographed by King to Bach’s Concerto in D Minor, and Men’s Quintet, featuring five male dancers with Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto, Movement II.
Natural soundscape artist Krause has traveled the globe for more than 40 years with microphones tuned to the earth and its creatures. His vast archive catalogs the sound of entire ecosystems – what Krause terms “biophony.” Created from the sounds of thundering elephants, rambunctious frogs, squealing whales, wild pigs, bees and birds who live in the rainforests of Borneo, Kenyan waterholes, Alaskan tundras and high Sierra Nevada meadows, Krause’s soundscapes reveal an intricate living orchestra.
The San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed, “Alonzo King is one of the few bona fide visionaries in the ballet world today.”
Laguna Dance Festival executive director Joy Dittberner noted, “Internationally-acclaimed Alonzo King is one of those rare geniuses whose artistic vision is clear to anyone who experiences his company, whether they are seasoned dance fans or new to the art form.”
Since 1982, King has guided this celebrated contemporary ballet company with choreography known for connecting audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity. King collaborates with noted international composers, musicians and visual artists to create works that draw on a diverse set of cultural traditions, imbuing classical ballet with new expressive potential. www.linesballet.org
In addition to the four onstage performances by these two extraordinary companies, Laguna Dance Festival will present free public dance performances at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 26 and Sunday, Aug. 16 at the Festival of Arts grounds, at the Sept. 3 First Thursdays Art Walk in two locations, Laguna Art Museum and Salt Fine Art, and master classes for local intermediate and advanced dancers on Sept. 10, 12 & 13 at the Laguna Beach High School dance studio. The four onstage performances will be held at the 420-seat Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California. Tickets are now on sale at www.lagunadancefestival.org.
Laguna Dance Festival, now in its eleventh year, is regarded as one of Orange County’s major annual cultural events and continues to be an important showcase for new and established dance companies and artists. Its mission is to support and promote the development of dance creation, presentation and education, and to increase public appreciation of the art form in Orange County and beyond. Phone: 949-715-5578. www.lagunadancefestival.org
Laguna Dance Festival 2015 Schedule
Sunday, July 26, 2015, 2 pm and 3 pm
Free public dance performances by Irvine-based Entity Contemporary Dance Company, fusing contemporary, hip-hop, and modern dance
Festival of Arts grounds 650 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach
Sunday, August 16, 2015, 2 pm and 3 pm
Free public dance performances by two Southern California dance companies:
• Lula Washington Dance Theatre’s Youth Dance Ensemble, part of the respected 35-year-old contemporary dance company based in South Los Angeles that shares African-American history and culture through dance;
• The Celeste Lanuza Dance Theatre, a San Diego-based modern dance company with roots in Latino and world dance.
Performances are free with admission to Festival grounds, Laguna Beach residents with ID admitted free.
Festival of Arts grounds 650 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach.
Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015
6:45 pm Laguna Art Museum
7:30 pm Salt Fine Art Gallery
Two free public dance performances during Laguna Beach First Thursdays Art Walk
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, 4:30 pm
Master class for dancers intermediate and advanced dancers 12 and older; led by personnel from Los Angeles-based BODYTRAFFIC, an audience favorite at the 2014 Laguna Dance Festival.
Laguna Beach High School Dance Studio, 625 Park Ave., Laguna Beach.
$25 per student; $15 observer; student package $50 master class and performance
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, 7:30 pm
Dance performance with pre-performance talk at 6:30 pm
Cuba’s hottest contemporary dance troupe Malpaso Dance Company brings its precise, athletic movement to Laguna for its West Coast premiere. Audiences will see Despedida/Farewell, a work by founder Osnel Delgado with music by Arturo O’Farrill; Under Fire, choreographed by Trey McIntyre; and Ronald K. Brown’s Why You Follow.
Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach
General admission $60; Students with ID $35
Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, 7:30 pm
Dance performance with pre-performance talk at 6:30 pm
Cuba’s hottest contemporary dance troupe Malpaso Dance Company brings its precise, athletic movement to Laguna for its West Coast premiere. Audiences will see Despedida/Farewell, a work by founder Osnel Delgado with music by Arturo O’Farrill; Under Fire, choreographed by Trey McIntyre; and Ronald K. Brown’s Why You Follow.
Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach
General admission $60; Students with ID $35
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, 12 to 3 pm
Technique class and repertory workshop for intermediate and advanced dancers 12 and older, led by personnel from Cuba’s top dance company, Malpaso Dance Company.
Laguna Beach High School Dance Studio, 625 Park Ave., Laguna Beach
$25 per student; $15 observer; student package $50 master class and performance
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, 7:30 pm
Dance performance by Alonzo King LINES Ballet: Biophony, a new exploration of nature with soundscape by Bernie Krause and composer Richard Blackford; Concerto for Two Violins; and Men’s Quintet.
Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach
General admission $60; Students with ID $35; LINES performance and post-show reception $125
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, 9 pm
Post-performance Artists’ Reception
Mingle with performers and choreographers from Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company and Alonzo King LINES Ballet at a reception that includes wine and food from K’ya Bistro.
Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach
Saturday LINES performance and reception $125
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, 10 am–12 pm
Master class for intermediate and advanced dancers age 12 and older may experience a class led by personnel from San Francisco’s popular Alonzo King LINES Ballet.
Laguna Beach High School Dance Studio, 625 Park Ave., Laguna Beach
$25 per student; $15 observer; student package $50 master class and performance
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, 2 pm
Dance performance with pre-performance talk at 1 p.m.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet presents Biophony, a new exploration of nature with soundscape by Bernie Krause and composer Richard Blackford; Concerto for Two Violins; and Men’s Quintet.
Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Rd., Laguna Beach
General admission $60; Students with ID $35
Photo: Malpaso Dance Company © David Garten
