Rawbzilla, Nicholas Heitzeberg, Joe Schenck, and Jones Welsh, from left, with the Los Angeles base dance group Collage Dance Theatre, tells the story about domestic voilence and internal strife on Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel with a performance on scaffolding sponsored by the Long Beach Arts Council. (Diandra Jay/Press-Telegram)03/18/2010
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram
LONG BEACH - The scaffolding looks to have been haphazardly assembled in the middle of the empty and dusty rock-strewn lot. Hardly the setting one would expect for a world class dance troupe. Or, for that matter, stylized dancing once reserved for kings.
Students performing highly ritualized and precise movements, followed by young men seemingly flinging themselves across and up and down the structure is not the kind of pairing one would typically consider.
But that's part of what organizers hope will make a success of the inaugural event in the "A lot" series presented by the Arts Council for Long Beach.
On Friday and Saturday nights this week, the Collage Dance Theatre of Los Angeles and Long Beach's Khmer Arts Academy will join forces for a couple of dances titled "Expulsion."
Heidi Duckler, the choreographer and creative force behind the Collage group, said her group was commissioned to do the piece by the Arts Council. The arts group paid $10,000, using grants from Los Angeles and the Redevelopment Agency, according to executive director Craig Watson.
The two pieces will explore the notions of strife and families torn apart by both external and internal strife.
Cambodian families were ripped apart by the genocide that engulfed the country beginning in 1975. "Expulsion" looks at their journey into exile in the United States and their eventual reunification.
The second part of the show, done by four dancers from Duckler's troupe is a frenetic and free-flowing telling of the saga of Cain and Abel and Adam and Eve leading to Cain's exile.
Duckler, whose troupe celebrates its 25th year, has been heralded for her highly innovative work. Duckler has choreographed what are called site-specific dances and performances, in which the movement reacts with and conforms to the setting and architecture. She first gained notice for this style in "Laundromatinee," performed at the Thrifty-Wash Laundromat in Santa Monica.
Duckler said she was thrilled to get a chance to perform in the vacant lot at the corner of Walnut Avenue in the 1500 block of Anaheim Street in the heart of Cambodiatown.
She said she was intrigued by using the openness and the sky in creating her piece.
She is also intrigued by the chance to learn from another culture and its art forms. She jokes that she didn't even know how to pronounce Khmer (kuh-my) when she first met with the dancers from KAA.
"They're very formalized and our (style) is improvised," Duckler said. "I love the process of getting to know each other. It's been a pleasure."
Watson said the public, outdoor arts experiences are important to the Arts Council and will be a continuing part of the "A lot" series. The next project on the docket, tentatively scheduled for May, will be on Ocean Boulevard and feature sculpture with some very Long Beach specific messages.
Performances of "Expulsion" are this Friday and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. at the lot at 1546 E. Anaheim St. The Friday performance will be followed by a discussion with an open microphone. Parking will be available at the Mark Twain Library, 1401 E. Anaheim St.
Information is available by calling the Arts Council at 562-570-1930 or online at www.artslb.org.
greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291
Students performing highly ritualized and precise movements, followed by young men seemingly flinging themselves across and up and down the structure is not the kind of pairing one would typically consider.
But that's part of what organizers hope will make a success of the inaugural event in the "A lot" series presented by the Arts Council for Long Beach.
On Friday and Saturday nights this week, the Collage Dance Theatre of Los Angeles and Long Beach's Khmer Arts Academy will join forces for a couple of dances titled "Expulsion."
Heidi Duckler, the choreographer and creative force behind the Collage group, said her group was commissioned to do the piece by the Arts Council. The arts group paid $10,000, using grants from Los Angeles and the Redevelopment Agency, according to executive director Craig Watson.
The two pieces will explore the notions of strife and families torn apart by both external and internal strife.
Cambodian families were ripped apart by the genocide that engulfed the country beginning in 1975. "Expulsion" looks at their journey into exile in the United States and their eventual reunification.
The second part of the show, done by four dancers from Duckler's troupe is a frenetic and free-flowing telling of the saga of Cain and Abel and Adam and Eve leading to Cain's exile.
Duckler, whose troupe celebrates its 25th year, has been heralded for her highly innovative work. Duckler has choreographed what are called site-specific dances and performances, in which the movement reacts with and conforms to the setting and architecture. She first gained notice for this style in "Laundromatinee," performed at the Thrifty-Wash Laundromat in Santa Monica.
Duckler said she was thrilled to get a chance to perform in the vacant lot at the corner of Walnut Avenue in the 1500 block of Anaheim Street in the heart of Cambodiatown.
She said she was intrigued by using the openness and the sky in creating her piece.
She is also intrigued by the chance to learn from another culture and its art forms. She jokes that she didn't even know how to pronounce Khmer (kuh-my) when she first met with the dancers from KAA.
"They're very formalized and our (style) is improvised," Duckler said. "I love the process of getting to know each other. It's been a pleasure."
Watson said the public, outdoor arts experiences are important to the Arts Council and will be a continuing part of the "A lot" series. The next project on the docket, tentatively scheduled for May, will be on Ocean Boulevard and feature sculpture with some very Long Beach specific messages.
Performances of "Expulsion" are this Friday and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. at the lot at 1546 E. Anaheim St. The Friday performance will be followed by a discussion with an open microphone. Parking will be available at the Mark Twain Library, 1401 E. Anaheim St.
Information is available by calling the Arts Council at 562-570-1930 or online at www.artslb.org.
greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291
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