PERFORMANCE DATES: FEBRUARY 14–16, 2025
Conceived by Legendary Choreographer Ohad Naharin, the 70-Minute Work Will Be Performed to a Soundtrack from the Album ‘Landfall’ by the Iconic Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet, with Additional Music by Philip Glass, Arca and Maxim Waratt
LOS ANGELES (January 6, 2025) – The Music Center continues its exhilarating Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center season on February 14–16, 2025, with Batsheva Dance Company, one of the world’s foremost contemporary dance ensembles. Performing for the first time at L.A.’s performing arts center, Batsheva will captivate Angelenos at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with the U.S. premiere of MOMO, a bold exploration of masculinity, vulnerability and identity through the powerful lens of master choreographer Ohad Naharin. MOMO, which had its world premiere in 2022, has garnered critical acclaim for its raw emotion, mesmerizing choreography and boundary-pushing approach to dance. Inbal Cohen Hamo of Portfolio writes: “A rowdy, dreamlike, and chaotic space, MOMO is one of the most beautiful shows Ohad Naharin ever created for Batsheva Dance Company.”
“Batsheva’s performance of MOMO will be a breathtaking testament to the power of movement and storytelling. The dancers’ extraordinary skill and emotional depth will bring Ohad Naharin’s bold work to life in a way that is both exhilarating and deeply moving,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “We are honored to support this incredible work, which bolsters our 22nd dance season’s rousing message to dance fearlessly. Batsheva pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance and will invoke all of us to reflect on the world around us.”
MOMO, conceived by Ohad Naharin with former Batsheva dancer Ariel Cohen and members of the Batsheva company itself, presents a shared passion of deep sorrow and beauty unfolding on stage. Eleven dancers will perform the breathtaking 70-minute piece to a soundtrack from the album Landfall by the iconic Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet, with additional music by Philip Glass, Arca and Maxim Waratt. “The dancers of Batsheva are tools in the hand of the creator,” writes Arian Bavelier of French newspaper Le Figaro. “They shape Naharin’s works with full, round, populated gestures. They are the only dancers in the world who manage to achieve such a quality of movement.”
According to the company, MOMO has two souls. “One sends long roots to the depths of the earth—a soul that embodies archetypes and myths of hardened, raw masculinity, and the other is in a constant search for an individual and distinct DNA; one moves within its own autonomous and independent force field, and the other is a constellation of elements that spin around the same nucleus—alternately drifting away and towards it, making room for necessary tenderness and catharsis.”
Batsheva Dance Company, founded in 1964 by the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, is critically acclaimed and popularly embraced as one of the world’s foremost contemporary dance companies. Ohad Naharin, hailed as a preeminent contemporary choreographer, was the company’s artistic director from 1990–2018 and currently serves as its house choreographer. Batsheva is a home for dancemakers who are collectively committed to ongoing research and adventurous exploration of new forms and ideas of our times. The company practices Gaga, the movement language developed by Naharin based on research into heightening sensation and imagination, becoming aware of form, finding new movement habits and going beyond familiar limits. Batsheva stages 250 performances annually and offers extensive educational activities for young dancers in its dance school and through a variety of courses and workshops.
Tickets to Batsheva Dance Company are available for purchase now by visiting musiccenter.org/batsheva or by calling (213) 972-0711.
Subscriptions are available for purchase now by visiting musiccenter.org or by calling (213) 972-0711.
CALENDAR LISTING
BATSHEVA DANCE COMPANY (Music Center Debut)
The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Friday, February 14, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 15, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 16, 2025, 2:00 p.m.
MOMO (U.S. Premiere)
Choreography: Ohad Naharin
Co-Creators: Batsheva Dance Company Dancers and Ariel Cohen
Lighting Design: Avi Yona Bueno (“Bambi”)
Sound Design and Editing: Maxim Waratt
Set and Props Design: Gadi Tzachor
Costume Design: Eri Nakamura
Music: Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass, Arca and Maxim Waratt
The critically acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company presents a shared passion of deep sorrow and beauty in its newest evening-length work, MOMO, from master choreographer Ohad Naharin. The company performs the work to a soundtrack from the iconic Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet’s album Landfall, with additional music by Philip Glass, Arca and Maxim Waratt. Established in 1964 as a repertory company, Batsheva Dance Company is one of the world’s most prominent and renowned dance troupes. The company stands at the forefront of the international dance world, thanks to the bold choreographic voice of Naharin and to the uncompromising quality of the company’s dancers.
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 in its 22nd year, Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center is a powerful force, bringing works by today’s most influential companies and choreographers to audiences in Los Angeles. 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 22nd 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. Celebrating its 60th year in 2024, the $80 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. 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 $3 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 and follow The Music Center on social media @MusicCenterLA.
ABOUT BATSHEVA DANCE COMPANY
Batsheva Dance Company is critically acclaimed and popularly embraced as one of the world’s foremost contemporary dance companies. Ohad Naharin, hailed as a preeminent contemporary choreographer, was the company’s artistic director between 1990–2018, and currently serves as its House Choreographer. Batsheva has become a home for dancemakers collectively committed to ongoing research and adventurous exploration of new forms and ideas of our times, and is a proponent of Gaga, the radical movement language developed by Naharin for dancers and for the wide public. Batsheva was founded in 1964 by the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, who enlisted the seminal choreographer Martha Graham as the company’s first Artistic Advisor. It is Israel’s largest dance company, with 40 extraordinary dancers from Israel and around the world in its senior company and the Junior Batsheva Ensemble. Batsheva stages some 250 performances annually, with more than 100,000 audience members, and offers extensive educational activities for young dancers in its dance school, and through a variety of courses and workshops. Dr. Lior Avizoor is the Company’s current Artistic Director. Dina Aldor has been the Executive Director since 2009.
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