This Weekend at The Music Center

Happy Friday friends!  This weekend we’ve got a very cool assortment of shows, including Music Center debuts and opening nights!  You won’t want to miss a thing this weekend at The Music Center…

Tonight

Catch the 1st of 3 performances of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in our Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Known as Taiwan’s premiere contemporary dance company, Cloud Gate blends a unique and mesmerizing style influenced by Tai-Chi, martial arts and modern dance.  Their production, Rice, tells the cyclical story of the staple crop, set against a backdrop of stunning photography from the region.

Meanwhile in Walt Disney Concert Hall, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the LA Phil in a program of Beethoven and Mahler.  And in the CalArts REDCAT theatre, check out Meg Wolfe’s new lushly physical movement work: New Faithful Disco , for a very different kind of dance show!

Saturday

Along with additional performances of Cloud Gate Dance, Beethoven and Mahler, and  New Faithful Disco, treat yourself to the opening night of Center Theatre Group’s hilarious new engagement of  An Act of God, starring Sean Hayes in our Ahmanson Theatre.   Plus, the Los Angeles Master Chorale will be performing a matinee of Verdi’s Requiem in the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Looking for something for the kiddos?  Take them to the latest performance in the LA Phil’s mid-morning series, Toyota’s Symphonies for Youth, at 11 am in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and enjoy a short performance of Debussy’s La Mer.  

Sunday

It’s the final day to see Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, as well as additional performance of Beethoven and Mahler, Verdi’s Requiem, and  An Act of God.

Have a wonderful weekend Los Angeles!

 

Meet the Man Behind Cloud Gate Dance

We’re just two weeks away from welcoming Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan to The Music Center for the very first time and we thought we’d take some time to introduce you to the man behind the movement, Artistic Director & Founder Lin Hwai-min  Here’s an excerpt from his bio….

In his homeland, Taiwan, Lin Hwai-min was first known as a critically acclaimed writer. In 1969, at the age of 22 and with two books of fiction published, he went to study in the States and obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. He also studied modern dance at the University and in New York.

Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 1973, the Dance Department at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 1983, and Cloud Gate 2 in 1999. Heralded as “the most important choreographer in Asia, Lin often draws his inspiration from traditional Asian culture and aesthetics to create original works with contemporary resonance, which have made Dance Europe acclaim: “No company in the world dances like Cloud Gate. It presents a distinct and mature Chinese choreographic language. The importance of this evolution in Asian dance is no less profound than the impact of Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt on European classical ballet.”

Among the honors Lin Hwai-min has received are honorary doctorates from six universities in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan National Award for Arts, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, the award for ‘Best Choreographer’ at the Lyon Biennial Dance Festival, “Distinguished Artist Award” presented by International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), and the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2005, he was honored by Time Magazine as one of the “Asia’s Heroes.” In 2013, he was awarded by President Ma Ying Jeou with the First Rank Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon. He is the second artist, after film director Ang Lee, to have been bestowed the highest honor from the government of Taiwan.

Honoring Lin Hwai-min with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, the jury of the International Movimentos Dance Prize, Germany, hails him as “a foremost innovator of dance” and said that “Lin Hwai-min ranks among artists of the century such as William Forsythe, George Balanchine, Birgit Cullberg….”

*************************************************************************************************So you can see why we can hardly wait for Cloud Gate to arrive!  See Lin Hwai-min’s work in action January 29-31st in our Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Tickets and more information on our website.  

Allow Us to Clue You in on Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

Our next dance engagement of the 2015/16 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center is with Taiwan’s premiere (and first) contemporary dance company, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre.  Here’s some background on the company and why everyone should jump at the chance to see them here in LA…

Founded and led by the prolific choreographer Lin Hwai-min in 1973,  and named after the oldest known dance in China, Cloud Gate blends Asian mythology, folklore, and aesthetics with a modern sensibility.  Their style draws from such diverse movement disciplines and artistic approaches as t’ai chi, meditation, martial arts, modern dance, and classical ballet, resulting in a totally unique form of contemporary movement and story-telling.

The company tours extensively and is extremely popular in Taiwan and beyond.    They’ve even had an asteroid named after them, as well as a street in Taipei… Suffice to say, they are highly regarded in the cultural landscape of China.  Founder Hwai-min’s work as a choreographer has been likened to that of William Foresythe and George Balanchine.  He’s been heralded as “the most important choreographer in Asia,” and has received numerous awards and honors for his innovative creativity.

This innovative style certainly comes through in Rice, the piece they will present during their 3 performance run here at The Music Center.  Rice was inspired by the landscape and story of Chihshang in the East Rift Valley of Taiwan, a farming village that was tainted by the use of chemical fertilizer, but which has now regained its title as the “Land of Emperor Rice” by adapting organic farming methods.  The piece is rooted in the fragility and importance of rice, a staple in the Asian landscape and culture.

This January marks the first time Cloud Gate Dance Theatre will be at The Music Center, and we can hardly wait to welcome this renowned company to our Dorothy Chandler stage.  It’s an honor and a production you don’t want to miss!  More information and tickets are on sale now.

 

Breaking Down Our New Season of Dance

Current. Classic. Can’t miss!

We recently announced the details for our 2015 -2016 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, and we’re proud to be bringing the most sought-after and exciting choreographers and companies of our time to Los Angeles. From re-imagined classics to ground-breaking collaborations, our season is brimming with the best in the dance world right now. Case in point: we’ve bookended our season with works by one of the greatest ballet choreographers of our time, Alexei Ratmansky!

Here’s an overview of the season…

The Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra. Photo by V. Baronovsky

The Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra opens the season with Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella set to Prokofiev’s haunting score with a 1930’s twist.

Hubbard Street + The Second City, from left: David Schultz, Tim Mason and Tawny Newsome. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Hubbard Street + The Second City will present their ingenious collaboration The Art of Falling, a show that takes sketch comedy to a whole new level.

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Photo by LIU Chen-hsiang.
Dancers: LEE Tsung-hsuan, YU Chien-hung.

Immersed in everything from meditation to martial arts to modern dance, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will make their Music Center debut in their stunning production of Rice.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Photo by Morah Geist.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet brings a mixed rep that combines technical precision, power, passion, and the occasional pop song.

Compagnie Käfig. Photo by Michel Cavalca.

The incredibly fun and fast-paced Compagnie Käfig is inspired by hip hop movement and capoeira with complex Brazilian rhythms and jaw dropping athleticism.

American Ballet Theatre. Misty Copeland and Roman Zhurbin in Firebird. Photo by Gene Schiavone.

Closing out the season we have a very special American Ballet Theatre engagement as we welcome their roster of ballet rock-stars featuring a mixed repertoire of Symphony No. 9, Piano Concerto No. 1, and Alexei Ratmansky’s reimagined Firebird.

American Ballet Theatre. Symphonie Concertante. Photo by Marty Sohl.

Full subscriptions are on sale now, and our subscribers not only get the best seats in the house, they also enjoy subscriber only discounts and benefits such as free exchanges, complimentary subscriber lounge and behind the scenes access.  What’s more, for the dance obsessed, we are offering an ultimate ticket perk package called Dance 135 including Orchestra Ring tickets to your choice of three shows with special offers, behind the scenes access, discounts, giveaways, and more!