L.A. Dances Program B

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L.A. DANCES PROGRAM B

RUN FROM ME SHANNON GILLEN

INTERMISSION

KORA CHARM LA'DONNA

KINAESONATA BELLA LEWITZKY

INTERMISSION

SPLIT STEP EMILY MAST ZACK WINOKUR

SHANNON GILLEN RUN FROM ME

RUN FROM ME dives headlong into Gillen's physical dance theater language -- testing the human limits of how force, velocity and risk can exist between bodies. It also delves into a timeless psychological predicament; who are we when we strive to be something or someone new? Where does our current ‘self’ go in the process? RUN FROM ME uncovers the loneliness and unease that is at the core of our desires. It imagines these aspects as an essential galvanizing force that keeps us moving forward in a brief and luminous expression of aliveness.

Choreography | Shannon Gillen Lighting Design | Barbara Samuels Music | Fieldhead

CHARM LA'DONNA KORA

Choreography | Charm La’Donna Set Design | Njideka Akunyili Crosby Lighting Design | François-Pierre Couture Music | Tounani Diabaté BELLA LEWITZY KINAESONATA

Choreographed in 1970 by Bella Lewitzky, Kinaesonata is a kinetic reaction to the music of Alberto Ginastera. Walter Sorell of Dance News New York said of Kinaesonata, “An all out display piece, it was danced by her beautifully trained and responsive young company at fever pitch, with bounding vigor, speed, buoyancy and joy. There were unexpected exciting, climbing lifts onto things and hips.”

* The Colburn School is proud to support L.A Dance Project by making possible the recording of Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No 1, Op. 22. EMILY MAST & ZACK WINOKUR SPLIT STEP

Split Step is a collaboration between visual artist Emily Mast, director Zack Winokur, composer Evan Mast, lighting designer Christopher Kuhl, and the dancers of LADP. It was created over two summer workshops at the LUMA Foundation in Arles, France. It will premiere in Los Angeles in September.

SHANNON GILLEN

Called ‘mesmerizing’ by VOGUE and championed as ‘vastly gifted’ by Deborah Jowitt, Shannon Gillen has had an extensive career as a dancer and choreographer in NYC and Europe. She was a member of the Johannes Wieland company based at Staatstheater Kassel in Germany; won commissions from Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, the International Solo-Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart (3rd prize dance), the TIF theater in Kassel, and was also selected as a THINK BIG choreographer-in- residence at Staatsoper Hannover.

Upon returning to the states, Shannon founded VIM VIGOR as the home for her collaborative choreographic and educational endeavors. Her work has been commissioned across the USA, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. Additional projects include commissions by fashion label PHELAN for NY Fashion Week, DANCEworks at the Lobero Theatre, Hubbard Street 2, Gibney Dance Company Boston Dance Theater and de Danseurs in NL.

SHANNON GILLEN | 2

Notable festivals and venues where her work has been seen include NYLA, Prisma Festival, Judson Church, PULSE Art Fair/Art Basel, Bryant Park, NYC's River to River festival, The Joyce, and Jacob’s Pillow. In 2018, Shannon was a choreographer in residence at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton and this year she has premieres at the ICA in Boston, UNCSA, Rutgers University, Gibney Dance, Over het lj in the Netherlands and will return to create new work at Springboard Danse in Montreal and at the b12 Festival in Berlin.

Dedicated to educating the next generation of artists, Gillen has created a physical dance theater education platform in NYC with VIM VIGOR, with annual winter and summer programming. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and earned her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Visit www.vimvigordance.com to learn more. CHARM LA'DONNA

Charm La’Donna is an American artist, actor, dancer, choreographer and creative director who works with the most elite performers in the entertainment industry. With a foundation deeply rooted in her Compton, California upbringing, Charm began her career at just fourteen years of age. At seventeen, Charm went on her first tour with Madonna before beginning her studies at UCLA. As an extraordinary talent she paid for her college education as the protégée of legendary choreographer Fatima Robinson, who opened doors and gave her responsibilities at a young age that would soon launch her own career. Charm is one of the most influential choreographers of this generation and continues to elevate dance to the incredible art form it is today. Charm’s choreography has been featured on some of the world’s largest stages. She started off 2018 by choreographing Kendrick Lamar’s groundbreaking performance at the Grammy Awards, while also shining brightly beside him as the only female dancer. CHARM LA'DONNA | 2 In addition to Charm being the sole dancer on Kendrick’s DAMN. tour, a few of her other choreography credits include Jay Rock and Jamie Foxx’s performance at the BET Awards, the Weekend’s performance at the Oscars, and 6lack’s innovative Coachella performance. You’ve also seen Charm being “all about that bass” with Meghan Trainor and choreographing Meghan’s “Let Me Be Right” video, Radio Disney Music Awards performance and many more. You’ve seen her having a “Piece Of Me’ with Britney Spears, “Slowing Down” with Selena Gomez and even making Pharrell Williams “Happy”. Charm’s vision and talent are in demand around the globe, as she recently returned from Spain where she choreographed an all-Spanish tour for international pop star, Rosalia. Charm’s inherent love of music and the arts, and a deep passion for dancing, fashion and acting inspire her to give back to the younger generations by mentoring kids across Los Angeles. Charm is the ultimate performer and consummate professional who has never forgotten where she has come from. In her words, “where much is given, much is required, as a creator, teacher, mentor and friend. Life is a stage and I feel it’s my calling to help inspire everyone to be the best they can be.” NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY

Njideka Akunyili Crosby was born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1983. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles. In 2014, she received the Smithsonian American Art Museum's James Dicke Contemporary Art Prize. She has recently participated in exhibitions including Surround Audience: New Museum Triennial 2015 at New Museum, New York; Draped Down at The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2014); Sound Vision at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (2014); Meeting in Brooklyn, curated by Monica Lenaers at the Landcommandery of Alden-Biesen, Bilzen, Belgium (2014); Shaktiat Brand New Gallery, Milan (2014); I Always Face You, Even When it Seems Otherwise at Tiwani Contemporary, London (two-person show with Simone Leigh, 2013); Domestic Experiences, Foreign Interiors at Sensei Exchange, New York (two-person show with Doron Langberg, 2013); I Still Face You at Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis (solo show, 2013); New Works at Gallery Zidoun, Luxembourg (two-person show with Abigail DeVille, 2013); Jump Cut at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York (2013); Housewarming, curated by Elizabeth Ferrer at BRIC, New York (2013); Bronx Calling: The Second Bronx Biennial at the Bronx Museum, New York (2013); Primary Sources at The Studio Museum In Harlem, New York (2012) and Lost and Found: Belief and Doubt in Contemporary Pictures at the Museum of New Art Detroit (2012). Her work is in the collections of major museums including Yale University Art Gallery; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; The Studio Museum in Harlem; The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University; and Tate, London. BELLA LEWITZKY

Born in Los Angeles in 1916 to Russian immigrants. Bella Lewitzky studied with Lester Horton at the Norma Gould Studio. In 1937 she established her choreographic career in Los Angeles. Some of her acclaimed works include On the Brink of Time (1969), Kinaesonata (1970), and Greening (1976). From 1966 to 1997, she led the acclaimed Bella Lewitzky Dance Company in Los Angeles. Speaking of her own choreography, Lewitzky says, “My love affair is with movement itself, not with literature turned into dance.” Lewitzky served both on the panel of the NEA and on the California Arts Council. She was an advocate of free artistic expression, and served as a pioneer both for women and female choreographers. Lewitzky has left a lasting legacy and passed away in 2004. CHARLES GAINES

Charles Gaines was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1944. Gaines received his MFA from the School of Art and Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Gaines lives and works in Los Angeles and serves as a member of the CalArts School of Art faculty. His work has been exhibited in many locations throughout the U.S. as well as internationally including the Whitney Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gaines’ work was presented at the Venice Biennale in 2007 and 2015. Gaines works closely with Hauser & Wirth worldwide.bit of body text

ALBERTO EVARISTO GINASTERA

Argentinian composer Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires. Ginastera took private lessons in music as a child and entered the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires. He began composing in his early youth winning 1st prize of the musical society El Únisono for his Piezas Infantiles for piano in 1934. In 1946-1947 he travelled to the US on a Guggenheim fellowship and studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. Returning to Argentina, he co-founded the League of Composers and served as director of the Conservatory of the province of Buenos Aires. Among his notable students were Ástor Piazzolla, Alcides Lanza, Waldo de los Ríos, Jacqueline Nova and Rafael Aponte-Ledée. Ginastera spent the last few years of his life in the US and Europe.

EMILY MAST Emily Mast is a visual artist who makes work that pulls from a combination of practices—visual art, theater and dance—and is anchored in the production of multi- compositional projects that employ live performance, sculptural installation, video and performance souvenirs. She has staged choreographed exhibitions and presented live performances at various venues including: The LUMA Foundation, Arles, France (2019); STUK, Leuven, Belgium (2018); Human Resources, Los Angeles (2018); FRAC Occitanie Montpellier, France (2017); Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria (2017); The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2017); the PowerPlant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2016); La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel (2015); China Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles (2015); Mona Bismarck American Center, Paris (2015); Silencio, Paris (2015); the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2014); The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2014); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space, New York (2013); Simone Dubal Gallery, New York (2013); the Galeria Luisa Strina in Sao Paolo, Brazil (2013); Public Fiction, Los Angeles (2012); REDCAT, Los Angeles (2012) and Performa, New York (2009). Emily runs Mast on Fig, a space for the development and communal sharing of experiential events and art works. It is located in a brick storefront in the Cypress Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. ZACH WINOKUR

Zack Winokur is a stage director and choreographer. Recent directing highlights include The Black Clown, an adaptation of the Langston Hughes poem starring Davóne Tines at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center and the American Repertory Theater; Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine, with music by Tyshawn Sorey, new text by Claudia Rankine, and starring Julia Bullock on the grand staircase of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Sondheim’s A Little Night Music with the Nederlandse Reisopera in collaboration with design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero and visual artist Cynthia Talmadge; and a new production of Hans Werner Henze’s El Cimarrón, also at the Met Museum. Additionally, his work has been presented at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie, Cincinnati Opera, The Juilliard School, Centre Pompidou, Royal Opera House, Museum of Arts and Design, Clark Art Institute, David Lynch’s Club Silencio, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Future highlights include directing Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde – the centerpiece of Santa Fe Opera’s 2020 season. Winokur is also Co-Artistic Director, with Matthew Aucoin, of AMOC (American Modern Opera Company), an ensemble of singers, musicians, and dancers committed to creating a body of new, discipline- colliding music-theater works. EVAN MAST

Evan Mast is an instrumental musician and half of the band Ratatat. Mast is interested in the broad spectrum of styles that instrumental music spans. His compositions move easily across genres and are influenced by punk, Bollywood, ‘60s rock, Bach and hip-hop. His first solo album, Parking Lot Music, was released in 2001. Since 2003, Mast has released five albums with Ratatat. Under his alias E*vax, Mast has produced and co- written songs with Jay-Z, Kid Cudi and Kanye West. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.