{"id":133643,"date":"2026-01-14T20:19:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133643\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:19:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:19:51","slug":"l-a-dance-at-its-best-bodytraffic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133643\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Dance at its Best: BODYTRAFFIC"},"content":{"rendered":"

BODYTRAFFIC<\/a>, the Los Angeles-based contemporary dance company led by Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett<\/a> set the stage on fire at The Wallis<\/a> on December 12, 2025.\u00a0 It was an entire evening\u00a0 of inventive and exciting choreography performed by master artists, Katie Garcia, Pedro Garcia, Joan Rodriguez, Jordyn Santiago, Chandler Davidson, Becky Garcia, Brenan Gonzalez, Jahnell D. Boozer, Grecia Cruz, and Kennedy Simon.\u00a0 \u00a0This was an evening of Los Angeles dance at its best!<\/p>\n

The program opened with commentary provided by Artistic Director, Tina Finkelman Berkett.\u00a0 She also provided commentary following intermission.\u00a0 Her words were succinct and engaging.\u00a0 Her delivery was filled with hope and contagious enthusiasm that pulled the audience close.\u00a0 She prepared the audience to immediately engage in a meaningful way with the work being presented. This artistic partnership with BODYTRAFFIC and\u00a0 The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts shows great promise, and I look forward to the next performance.\u00a0\u00a0 Kudos to\u00a0 Director, Tina Finkelman, who curated a diverse program that highlighted the versatility and technical prowess of the dancers.\u00a0 Each piece shared a totally different story and was characterized by very distinct and unique movement qualities. \u00a0The pauses and intermission were perfectly placed resulting in an evening that flowed beautifully and kept the audience wanting more.<\/p>\n

The evening began with the BODYTRAFFIC premiere of Schachmatt (Checkmate) choreographed by Cayetano Soto<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cSpirit fingers or Jazz Hands\u201d never looked so good!\u00a0 These exquisite artists took Fosse vocabulary and made it their own complete with attitude, swagger, long limbed extensions, and an effortlessness that was nothing short of remarkable.\u00a0 Clean, sharp, precise, controlled movements demonstrating the sheer strength and technique of every dancer, all working perfectly with the giant chessboard.<\/p>\n

\"BODYTRAFFIC<\/a><\/p>\n

BODYTRAFFIC in \u201cCoalescence\u201d\u00a0by Jordyn Santiago \u2013 Photo courtesy of BODYTRAFFIC.<\/p>\n

Coalescence by Jordyn Santiago<\/a>, was a tour de force for Ms. Santiago.\u00a0 She took my breath away with her visceral, fluid, non-stop movement at the opening of the piece.\u00a0 It was apparent that Ms. Santiago was dancing from the inside out with commitment and passion that made me gasp.\u00a0 The dancers functioned as a kind of Greek chorus providing encouragement, support, and never-ending love.\u00a0 \u00a0The costumes had a translucent, sheer, transparent quality that created a calming effect. The ending was powerful as the dancers seemed to move as one into a shape reminiscent of a caterpillar.<\/p>\n

\"BODYTRAFFIC<\/a><\/p>\n

BODYTRAFFIC \u2013 Katie Garcia and Joan Rodriguez in \u201cFlyland\u201d by David Middenthorp \u2013 Photo by Christopher Duggan.<\/p>\n

A total change of pace followed intermission. \u00a0Flyland choreographed by David Middenthorp is a duet that features projections that are integral to the dance.\u00a0 Projections and animations envelop the entire stage, and the effect is mind boggling.\u00a0 There were times when I was not sure where I should be looking.\u00a0 The dancers perform much of the choreography while lying on the floor and at one point they seem to be flying across the clouds together.\u00a0 As I watched I could not help but begin to think about the amount of rehearsal time it must have taken for these amazing artists to seamlessly dance with the projections and animations creating a world of fantasy and reality.<\/p>\n

\"Joan<\/a><\/p>\n

Joan Rodriguez (forward) and members of BODYTRAFFIC in Secret Goodbye, choreography by Trey McIntyre \u2013 Photos by Trey McIntyre<\/p>\n

The evening ended with \u00a0the world premiere of Secret Goodbye choreographed\u00a0 by Trey McIntyre<\/a> and set to the music of Sam Cooke. Music and dance merged to tell stories of love, heartbreak, loneliness, desire, fulfillment and longing.\u00a0 When I examined my notes to write this review I saw \u201cSEXY\u201d in large black letters.\u00a0 The men and women oozed sensuality as they effortlessly danced with their entire being. They seemed to feel every note of the iconic music of Sam Cooke.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u201cA Change Is Gonna Come\u201d (1965), a signature song and \u201canthem of hope and boundless optimism that expresses the genius of his poetry and sweetness of his soul\u201d resonated loudly.\u00a0 It was put to good use with choreography that captured the essence of the song.\u00a0 The four dancers demonstrated a deep commitment to the stories they were telling with \u00a0musicality and a tremendous emotional range.<\/p>\n

To learn more about BODYTRAFFIC, please visit their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To see what else is happening at The Wallis, please visit their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Written by Leah Bass-Baylis for LA Dance Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Featured image: BODYTRAFFIC \u2013 Brenan Gonzalez, Joan Rodriguez, Chandler Davidson, Jordyn Santiago in Secret Goodbye, choreography by Trey McIntyre \u2013 Photos by Trey McIntyre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BODYTRAFFIC, the Los Angeles-based contemporary dance company led by Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett set the stage on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-133643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}