{"id":285608,"date":"2026-04-25T14:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285608\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T14:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:38:15","slug":"los-angeles-dance-festival-2026-a-one-note-evening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285608\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dance Festival 2026 \u2013 A One-Note Evening"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a wonderful thing for Deborah Brockus<\/a> to produce the L.A. Dance Festival, featuring many different dance companies from throughout Los Angeles. It is also fantastic for her to honor certain individuals in the Concert Dance World with a Lifetime Impact Award. This year the award went to Sean Greene<\/a>. Greene had danced with Bella Lewitzky\u2019s Company for 19 years and has been teaching throughout the area ever since. Approaching his 80th birthday, he spoke about dancers setting their sights and goals higher than where they currently are in their career. It was a mentor\u2019s note to the young dancers in the audience. There were heartfelt testimonials and earnest gratitude galore. All a fitting tribute to a life lived in service to Terpsichore.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cJonah\u201d by Deborah Brockus \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

For a Dance Festival highlighting the companies of greater Los Angeles one would expect a higher caliber of accomplishment. I know I did. However, the program presented on Friday, April 17, 2026 at the Brockus Project Studios was uneven and perhaps the atmosphere of reduced funding with dance companies closing their doors was at work here as well. \u201cJonah\u201d by BrockusRED<\/a> with choreography by Deborah Brockus and dancers Denali Huff, Rebecca Lee, and Raven Smith started off the evening with an arresting visual of three red pieces of material laid out on the floor leading up to black boxes reminiscent of a throne room in a Minoan Palace. The costumes of black halter dresses worked well with the choreography and played against the red material in striking contrast. There were various cuts of music utilized during the piece making it feel slightly discordant and a piece of a jigsaw. The red material overwhelmed a couple of the sections as the dancers covered themselves with it but did not fulfill the possibilities of the confining material in movement. We did get the feeling of hot summers on the country porch whiling the hours away which was well done. This piece would have benefitted by some judicial editing and a more careful eye towards the technical aspects of some of the movement. Was the attitude pos\u00e9 turned out or bolt turned in? We had both examples by the dancers. The focus of the dancers also was an issue in this work.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cJoy in Conflict\u201d by Maura Townsend \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoy in Conflict\u201d by Maura Townsend Dance Project<\/a>. Choreography by Maura Townsend. Dancers: Zoe Foy, Norianna Galindo-Ramirez, Madeline Gruenler, Amanda Harris, Cassidy Kittredge, and Cheryl Wei. The movement here was strong and clean. Costumes were black pants with black lace tops over leotards and elongated the line in this space. It was a solemn piece beginning with all facing front in neutral face. There was group unison movement with solos breaking out here and there. Why? I do not know. That was not made clear by the choreography. All were serious and committed.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cHigh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHigh Tide\u201d by Savanna Scott \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh Tide\u201d by Savanna Scott<\/a>. Dancers: Savanna Scott, John-Pierre Cardenas, Jared \u201cIzy\u201d Mathis, and Sarah Gibson. This piece was extremely weak in content and execution. It seemed to me a student exercise in composition rather than a finished work of choreography ready for the stage. One of my teachers said to me, \u201cDon\u2019t set foot onstage unless you have something to say\u201d. This is my advice to Savannah Scott. As it was, he started the performers facing front in a line and then did a few different compositions withthe dancers, and then separated, and then it ended. There was some angst portrayed as one of the dancers contorted their face in an emotional response to the music.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cPatience<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPatience Is A Star\u201d choreographed and danced by Scout Coneja & Jordan Harris \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatience Is A Star\u201d choreographed and danced by Scout Coneja & Jordan Harris<\/a>. This was a duet where the female begins by taking off her dress as the male enters from stage right and sneaks up behind her. I thought he was a spirit or phantasm a\u2019la \u201cSpectre de la Rose\u201d. She has a basket in front of her on the floor. They proceed to roll all over each other, and I realized this must be euphemism for sex or lovemaking. The program notes state that this duet is about the \u201cgrief of the challenge to have children, a partner, a family\u201d. Any one of these would be enough for a duet but the meaning got lost in trying to cover all of this ground within the chosen time. The partnering was ably done and the choreography was engaging but keeping the theme simple and to the point would have helped a great deal.<\/p>\n

\"\u201csandbound<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201csandbound secrets\u201d choreographed by Jos\u00e9 Argueta \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

\u201csandbound secrets\u201d choreographed by Jos\u00e9 Argueta<\/a> and dancers: Celine Chai, Baylee Ferrerra, Sarah Flores, Margaux Gex, Arturo Gonzales, Sarah Holguin, Marissa Mahoney, and Thomas Ng. This piece took itself very seriously while I could not figure out why it was being performed. There was a large group of dancers all moving in unison and killing themselves in order to deliver the choreography, and for what? Movement for its own sake certainly exists. And that is enough if the overall vision for it is clear. This was not. The movement syntax was casual and relaxed and then the faces very serious and macabre. A heavy stomping phrase was introduced suddenly making me think of some kind of ritual. But what kind was unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaper Lantern\u201d choreographed and danced by Charlotte Katherine Smith<\/a>. This was a dramatic solo also very serious and reminiscent of Pina Bausch. Smith had heightened make up accentuating her eyes creating a sort of mask with which to portray her angst. Part of the soundscape had children laughing in the background with waves crashing conjuring up images of a beach scene. She seemed to be remembering an event, or lamenting someone lost like in a silent movie. Her movements slow and meditated, her arms deliberate. She seemed to succumb to sadness and crumbles into a ball. It was well done and well timed for the character to make her statement.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cIf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I Could Only Warn the Younger Me\u201d choreography by Sean Greene \u2013 Performed by Ari Loeb, Denali Huff and Mara Hancock \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I Could Only Warn the Younger Me\u201d choreography by Sean Greene was a trio for Ari Loeb, Denali Huff and Mara Hancock. I say trio, but it portrayed a menage-\u00e1-trois where both women are fighting over the man. I understand that the title describes what was intended by the work but watching two women tear each other apart over love\/lust for the same man, however, seems to me tone deaf given the ongoing struggle for women to have equal rights and stature in today\u2019s society. Greene portrays these women as an addendum to his toxic masculinity that simply will not be satisfied with just one woman. There is angst and tortured emotion in the realization that these women must share him in order to have their love reciprocated; to the degree where Hancock pounds her genitalia with her fist in order to overcome its desire for him. This seems like a 1972 Warren Beatty episode, and only a misogynist who sees women as sexual objects could possibly create it. From the beginning the dancers were agitated and frustrated confused and irritated and it only escalated from there. It is very difficult to maintain that level of misery and it did not succeed here. After too long it becomes tedious and then merely laughable.<\/p>\n

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

Sean Greene \u2013 Photo courtesy of Musco Center for the Arts<\/p>\n

Overall, I would suggest in the future that Brockus include works on the program that are somewhat varied in tone and form. Every work on this program was serious, angst ridden, tortured, macabre and\/or dour.\u00a0 The tone of the evening was one-note and wore me down by the end. Give the audience a break and include lighter fare between more serious pieces.<\/p>\n

For more information on the Brockus Project Studios, please visit their website.<\/p>\n

Written by Brian Frett\u00e9 for LA Dance Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Featured image: \u201cPaper Lantern\u201d choreographed and danced by Charlotte Katherine Smith \u2013 Photo by Sofia Lareau.<\/p>\n

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