Get Wet
Dance Camera West is excited to celebrate the12th Annual
DCW Dance Media Film Festival with “Get Wet,” a celebration of
screen dance, live dance, and water. Featuring DCW’s traditional
roster of new international dance films, “Get Wet” will include
live, site-specific dance works from world-renowned choreographers
and dancers. Events and performances and screenings will be located
at fountains in Los Angeles, including the majestic Getty Museum.
Our green inspired festival will be sure to inform audiences about
dance, film and the preservation of water. Please come to the
opening of Dance Camera West and the launch of GET WET! on Thursday
May 2nd at the Music Center to see a new, live, site work around
the historic fountain by Sarah Elgart Arrogant Elbow Production.
Featuring dance by, Andi Schermoly, Corina Kinnear, Miguel Perez,
Guzman Rosado and Sara Silkin. When
Thursday May 2nd at 7:00pm Where The
Music Center: Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles 135 N. Grand
Ave. Los Angeles, California 90012
Review by Debra Levine on artsmeme.com
A marvelous event opened the annual Dance Camera West film festival Thursday evening. At dusk, we gathered ’round the Jacques Lipchitz “Peace on Earth” sculpture-fountain that anchors the plaza of the Los Angeles Music Center, one of our city’s rare pedestrian hobnobbing spots. Suddenly a tall tube of ruby fabric mysteriously appeared and began to sway in the balmy air.
Los Angeles City Hall, capped by its tiered white beacon-top, stood erect in the background. The writhing tube, in its shape, echoed the Lipchitz sculpture — but sprung to life and gone stark-raving red, like a smear of lipstick oozed from its container.
It was dance maker Sarah Elgart’s fine execution of her Dance Camera West commission: to use choreography to augment a familiar locale and cause an audience to see with new eyes. Bathed in God’s best lighting scheme — a glowing pink California sunset — and powered by a cool electronic sound score, Elgart’s five brave performers solemnly spooled a twin set of Gothic pas de deux betwixt the wooshing waters.
The site-specific showcase was a clever adjunct to DCW’s film offerings and supportive of under exposed dance makers in our community. It was the brainchild of dance agent Julie McDonald, who worked with DCW director Tonia Barber to bring the fountain fun to fruition.
At LACMA, choreographer Tony Testa lit the fuse on a romping group dance — six men, one lucky woman — dedicated to ‘Healing the Bay’ that exploded with strong dynamics at the top of the long corridor leading from Wilshire Boulevard on to the museum campus.
Further location-inspired works by Daniel Ezralow and Kitty McNamee rolled out at the Getty Museum. The Getty, of course, hosted, not a month ago, the mother of all site-specific dances: Trisha Brown’s Roof Piece dating from 1971. This rash of populist, plein air dancing in L.A. indicates dance makers rarin’ to go but unable to secure production in traditional theatrical outlets. I like the spunk — let’s dance anyway! We’re also reminded that along with this weekend’s creative quartet our community includes two long time, respected practitioners: site-specific experts Heidi Duckler and Stephen Koplowitz.
