With Five of the World’s Most Visionary Dance Companies, New Dance Season Also Includes the Launch of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Multi-Year Residency with The Music Center
LOS ANGELES (June 2, 2023)—The Music Center announced today the 21st season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center—a bold series of dance residencies highlighting the power and influence of women in dance—featuring five world-renowned dance companies. The season begins in September 2023. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Joffrey Ballet and Ballet Hispánico each will perform powerful works inspired by legendary figures and stories known globally; Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells will co-produce a pair of works, including a West Coast premiere; and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, adored by Music Center audiences for more than two decades, will kick off a four-year residency in which the company will make The Music Center its exclusive Los Angeles home. Season subscriptions are available for purchase now by visiting musiccenter.org or by calling (213) 972-0711; single tickets will be available for purchase starting on June 30, 2023. The Music Center will offer arts and cultural experiences, such as panel discussions, master classes, special events and more, which are free to the public as part of these residencies.
“Without a doubt, the 2023–2024 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center will be the toast of the town—our boldest season in years. The most visionary dance companies today will push the boundaries in choreography on our stages and transport our audiences,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “We are especially thrilled to present an exhilarating season with works about strong, dynamic women as well as by strong, incredible women. From a work inspired by ‘the mother of contemporary African dance’ to a Latina icon brought to life by a Latina choreographer, The Music Center’s new dance season is filled with boundary-breaking luminaries, making it an empowering, compelling experience like no other for Angelenos of all generations and identities.”
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago kicks off the series of residencies on September 29–October 1, 2023. As one of the most original forces in contemporary dance for nearly five decades, the 14-member company will perform a mixed repertory at The Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre, including Coltrane’s Favorite Things choreographed by Lar Lubovitch, who is hailed by The New York Times as "one of the ten best choreographers in the world.” Hubbard Street will also perform BUSK, the 2009 creation of the company’s artist-in-residence Aszure Barton. Chicago’s PBS station WTTW heralded the internationally renowned Canadian American choreographer’s poignant work as “nothing short of phenomenal.”
From February 9–11, 2024, Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells are co-producing Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring to be performed at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. A 1975 seminal work of the late choreographer, The Rite of Spring examines unyielding ritual when the sacrifice of a “chosen one” changes the season from winter to spring. The Rite of Spring is paired with the West Coast premiere of common ground[s], a work of dance art created, performed and inspired by two remarkable women—Germaine Acogny, founder of École des Sables and considered “the mother of contemporary African dance,” and dancer Malou Airaudo—whose shared histories, emotional experiences and common ground make the duo’s first collaboration a poetic and tender piece.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to The Music Center from March 20–24, 2024, to launch its four-year residency at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion led by Artistic Director Robert Battle. America’s most popular modern dance company will expand on its choreographic tradition, introducing audiences to new choreographers and repertory with world premieres and beloved classics, including Alvin Ailey’s signature masterpiece Revelations, that illustrate the breadth of Alvin Ailey’s rich catalog.
The series of residencies continues in June with The Joffrey Ballet, one of the premier dance companies in the world today whose reputation for boundary-breaking performances spans more than 65 years. The company will bring to The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the debut of its famed psychological blockbuster, Anna Karenina, recipient of the 2019 Benois de la Danse International Prize for Best Choreography. Set to a beautiful original score by award-winning composer Ilya Demutsky, and with stunning costume design, this breathtaking cinematic production was created by acclaimed Ukrainian choreographer, Yuri Possokhov.
The 21st season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center comes to a thunderous close with Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón, an explosive portrait of one of the most recognizable and controversial women in Argentinian history: Eva “Evita” Perón. Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa—who choreographed Frida for Dutch National Ballet, about painter Frida Kahlo, in the 20th season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center—marks her first full-length work for Ballet Hispánico, accompanied by live musicians, and reclaims the narrative of an iconic Latina figure.
The Music Center is collaborating with dance companies in residence to engage Los Angeles communities through discussions with the public, performances for youth, open rehearsals and classes for people of all ages and abilities and much more.
For tickets and information about the 2023–2024 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, visit musiccenter.org or call (213) 972-0711. The Music Center’s Ticket Buyer Assurance Program protects all advance ticket purchases for dance presentations through 2024. Ticketed patrons will receive, at their request, a full refund or a credit for a future performance if Los Angeles County or the State of California elects to restrict or prohibit large gathering events at venues, resulting in the cancellation by The Music Center of dance performances due to COVID-19-related conditions. If an event is postponed or rescheduled, ticketed patrons will be moved automatically to the new performance date; however, patrons may request a refund or credit for the future. All changes must be handled prior to the purchaser’s scheduled performance date.
While The Music Center strongly encourages the use of masks on its campus, it no longer requires the use of masks or proof of vaccination/booster for access to its theatres. The Music Center remains committed to the highest standards of safety, sanitation and security to minimize risk for guests, artists and employees. Visit musiccenter.org/safety for information about The Music Center’s continued safety and security measures.
The 2023–2024 Season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center*
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
The Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre
Friday, September 29, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 30, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 1, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
Last company appearance at The Music Center: 2015
Coltrane’s Favorite Things
Choreography: Lar Lubovitch
Stager: Jonathan E. Alsberry
Music: John Coltrane, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Scenery: Jackson Pollock
Lighting Design: Jack Mehler
First performed in 2010
BUSK
Choreography & Direction: Aszure Barton
Stager: Jonathan E. Alsberry
Music: V. de Moraes, August Söderman, Ljova, Moondog, Daniel Belanger, Camille Saint-Saëns and David Wikander
Musical Arrangement & Editing: Aszure Barton with Jonathan E. Alsberry
Costume Design: Michelle Jank
Lighting & Stage Design: Nicole Pearce
First performed in 2009
Other works to be announced.
As one of the most original forces in contemporary dance for nearly five decades, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will perform a mixed repertory, including Coltrane’s Favorite Things choreographed by Lar Lubovitch, hailed by The New York Times as “one of the ten best choreographers in the world.” His work is inspired by and danced to John Coltrane's 1963 Live in Copenhagen interpretation of the song My Favorite Things from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music; the backdrop for the dance is a reproduction of Jackson Pollock’s landmark painting Autumn Rhythm. With this dance, Lubovitch reimagines the choreographic possibilities of Jazz, creating a vibrant counterpart to the artistic impulsiveness of these two 20th-century giants. BUSK is the 2009 creation of the company’s artist-in-residence Aszure Barton. The internationally renowned Canadian American choreographer’s poignant work, called “nothing short of phenomenal” by Chicago’s PBS station WTTW, celebrates and scrutinizes the essence of what it means to perform, laying bare complex layers of human experience and emotion through mesmerizing, multitasking movements. Other works on the program will be announced at a later date.
Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells
The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Friday, February 9, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 11, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
The Rite of Spring
Choreography: Pina Bausch
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Original Set and Costume Design: Rolf Borzik
Collaboration: Hans Pop
World Premiere: December 3, 1975 – Opera House Wuppertal (Germany)
common ground[s]
Co-Choreographers and Dancers: Germaine Acogny, Malou Airaudo
Composer: Fabrice Bouillon LaForest
Costume Designer: Petra Leidner
Lighting Designer: Zeynep Kepekli
Dramaturg: Sophiatou Kossoko
How would you dance if you knew you were going to die? This is the central question asked by the late choreographer Pina Bausch of her dancers in 1975 when she created her seminal work, The Rite of Spring. The piece examines the notion of unyielding ritual when the sacrifice of a “chosen one” changes the season from winter to spring. Bausch’s pioneering work, which established her iconic approach, has flourished to become one of the 20th century’s most significant and important bodies of dance theatre. Faithful to Igor Stravinsky’s visceral score, Bausch’s monumental choreography is given a thrilling new life by a specially assembled company of 34 dancers from 14 African countries. Dancing on a peat-covered stage, they clash and engage in a struggle of life, ritual and sacrifice that pays tribute to Bausch’s unparalleled genius. The Rite of Spring is paired with the West Coast premiere of common ground[s], a work of dance art created, performed and inspired by two women who have juggled the honorable roles as choreographers, professors and grandmothers: Germaine Acogny and Malou Airaudo. Acogny is founder of the Senegalese École des Sables and widely considered to be “the mother of contemporary African dance”; Airaudo performed leading roles in many of Bausch’s early works as a member of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. As the duo’s first collaboration, common ground[s] is a poetic and tender piece that reflects their shared histories, emotional experiences and common ground.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 21, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 22, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 23, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 23, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 24, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
Last company appearance at The Music Center: 2022
America’s most popular modern dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will expand on its choreographic tradition, introducing new choreographers to the repertory with world premieres and beloved classics that illustrate the breadth of the company’s rich catalog, including Alvin Ailey’s signature work Revelations. When Ailey and a small group of African American dancers took the stage on March 30, 1958, at New York City’s 92nd Street Y, the engagement was for one night only, but it turned out to be the start of a new era in the arts, launching a revolutionary company that transcends barriers and celebrates the African American cultural experience. Alvin Ailey became one of the trailblazers of modern dance, and the work of his company grew to encompass education, community outreach and cultural diplomacy. For 65 years, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has showcased the work of diverse choreographers, amplifying a myriad of voices alongside Ailey’s own. The New York Times declares Artistic Director Robert Battle “...has injected the company with new life.”
The Joffrey Ballet
The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Friday, June 21, 2024, 7:30pm
Saturday, June 22, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 22, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 23. 2024, 2:00 p.m.
Live orchestra
Last company appearance at The Music Center: 2013
Anna Karenina
Choreography: Yuri Possokhov
Music: Ilya Demutsky
Libretto: Valeriy Pecheykin based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy
Costume & Set Designs: Tom Pye
Lighting Design: David Finn
Projection Design: Finn Ross
Restaged: Adam Blyde & Suzanne Lopez
World Premiere: February 13, 2019, Auditorium Theatre (Chicago)
One of the premier dance companies in the world today, whose reputation for boundary-breaking performances spans more than 65 years, The Joffrey Ballet will bring to The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the debut of its famed psychological blockbuster, Anna Karenina, recipient of the 2019 Benois de la Danse International Prize for Best Choreography. Love is all-consuming for the beautiful but married Anna, who, in the pursuit of passion, finds herself caught in a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Vronsky. Choreographer Yuri Possokhov's immersive adaptation, set in late 19th century Imperial Russia, unravels the profound power, desire and possession that shapes Leo Tolstoy's epic 19th-century novel. Heightened by a live orchestra, the breathtaking, cinematic production includes stunning costume design and captivating choreography, which is set to an original composition by award-winning composer Ilya Demutsky. Chicago Tribune lauds “Anna Karenina is a feat of artistic genius…and some of the best narrative choreography created for a 21st century ballet.”
Ballet Hispánico
The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Friday, July 12, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 13, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 14, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
Live musicians
Last company appearance at The Music Center: 2009
Doña Perón
Choreography: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Artistic Collaborator: Nancy Meckler
Music: Peter Salem
Lighting, Set and Video Design: Christopher Ash
Costume Design: Mark Eric
Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón is an explosive portrait of one of the most recognizable and controversial women in Argentinian history: Eva “Evita” Perón. The illegitimate daughter of a wealthy landowner, Evita concealed this shameful past as she rose in the ranks from dancehall performer to Argentina's First Lady—all before her untimely death at the age of 33. Doña Perón brings to light the extremes of power at the forefront of Evita's life. Her work as an activist and advocate for Argentina's women and working class raised skepticism as she indulged in the opulence of a high-class life. Was she a voice for the people or a deceitful actress? Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who choreographed Frida for Dutch National Ballet in the 20th dance season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, explores these diverging legacies. Doña Perón, described as a “milestone” and “breakthrough” by The New York Times, marks Ochoa’s first first-length work for Ballet Hispánico and reclaims the narrative of an iconic Latina figure.
*Programs and artists subject to change. Photos available here.
About Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center
Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, a TMC Arts program, is one of the leading presenters of dance on the West Coast. The celebrated series offers significant works by prestigious ballet and contemporary dance artists from around the world. Now entering its 21st year, Dance at The Music Center is a powerful force, supporting new works and artists-in-residence projects by today’s most influential companies and choreographers. Performances are complemented by special experiences for both ticket buyers and the public with opportunities to learn more about the choreography and the themes explored, including panels, master classes, dance film festivals, interactive experiences and more. The 21st season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center is generously supported by Glorya Kaufman Foundation, Center Dance Arts, Dorothy B. Chandler Program Fund and Elisabeth Katte Harris.
About Center Dance Arts
Center Dance Arts is a dynamic community of patrons with a passion for dance. Center Dance Arts members bring dance to life in Los Angeles by promoting The Music Center’s world-class dance performances, extensive educational outreach and free and low-cost community experiences so all may experience the transformative power of dance. For more information, visit musiccenter.org/cda.
About The Music Center
The Music Center convenes artists, communities and ideas with the goal of deepening the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. The $70 million non-profit performing arts organization has two divisions: TMC Arts and TMC Ops. TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, provides year-round programming inside The Music Center’s four theatres, on Jerry Moss Plaza, outside at Gloria Molina Grand Park—a 12-acre adjacent green space—in schools and other locations all over Los Angeles County and on a digital platform called The Music Center Offstage. TMC Arts presents world-class dance with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, free and low-cost public concerts and events, as well as live and digital K–12 arts education programs, workshops, performances, interactive experiences and special events. TMC Ops manages the theatres, the Plaza and Gloria Molina Grand Park, which comprise $2 billion in county assets, on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. The Music Center is also home to four renowned resident companies—Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Master Chorale, LA Opera and LA Phil. For more information, visit musiccenter.org. Follow The Music Center on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @MusicCenterLA.
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