Author:
Kenneth Walker
Feb 25, 2010, 2:28 am
Dance Venues in Los Angeles
One frequently hears in dance circles in Los Angeles and elsewhere about the lack of a profile for dance in Los Angeles. I believe that the best way to elevate the profile of dance in the city is for the Music Center to be an anchor organization that supports local artists thereby increasing their credibility and in the process increasing the potential for increased cultural tourism. This would also help to alleviate the difficulties of local choreographers in finding well equipped theaters to produce their work.
The Music Center is currently home to the Los Angeles Opera, Center Theater Group, and LA Philharmonic. The area of major performing art that it lacks is dance. Dance at the Music Center is a noble program but doesn’t highlight any of the local dance ensembles the way that the other arts are represented. As the leading arts organization, the Music Center needs to step forward and make a commitment to the Los Angeles dance community. Some would argue that there is no major Los Angeles based dance company to present at the Music Center. While there may not be many dance companies on par with the international caliber of the opera led by Placido Domingo or the Phil there are good companies that could benefit from the exposure.
There are many things that the Music Center can do to develop audience interest in local companies and even broaden the palette of the audiences to be more interested in various forms of dance. The Center could produce dance festivals at the Ahmanson that might include a mix of local and imported talent. This might even be done in the intimate Kirk Douglas Theater run by Center Theater Group in Culver City. Either activity would bolster the Music Center as the anchor institution that it sees itself as. The problem with this plan is that anything done at either facility has to be scheduled around the calendars of the resident companies.
The true solution lies in the Music Center establishing a satellite theater exclusively for dance. This would complete the arts picture in the city and help generate even more cultural tourism dollars. With the revival of downtown LA as a destination area we could use the momentum to move forward with this plan even in a down economy. The taxpayers might not even have to fund it. Patrons such as Gloria Kaufmann have proven that they are willing and ready to support a more robust dance scene (she stepped forward to rescue the Dance at the Music Center season last year).i I propose we follow in the footsteps of what was done in New York with the Joyce Theater. A run down movie house was converted in 1981 into one of the premiere theaters just for dance in the nation.
This would not be a quick fix, the Joyce renovation took two years and careful attention was paid to maintain the exterior façade. The establishment of a dance venue would be a boon to local choreographers and companies who struggle to find an adequate location to present their work. The establishment of the Joyce Theater was done with private money, but a coalition of public, corporate, and private funds could make the same thing a reality here.ii One look at communities with smaller size theaters shows that those theaters do not want for bookings. The Joyce Theater in New York with 475 seats is booked non-stop and runs a campaign based on getting the audience closer to dance.iii
Taking run one of the run down movie houses on Broadway or somewhere else in the immediate area would kill two birds with one stone. It would save a landmark building and bring a state of the art facility (once the theater has been gutted and renovated) for dance to the community of dance and the community at large. This step would help to cement Los Angeles as the cultural capital of the country.
Detractors might point out that theaters already exist to serve the needs of dance artists. One look at the calendars of many theaters shows very little dance on their minds or a bias about local dance on theirs stages. The space to be created needs to be a presenter as well as have their doors opens wide to companies looking to present themselves. Once the new dance theater is opened it can become a hub for the dance community to share ideas, a centralized location to view dance so that we don’t have to drive all over the county to view dance and place that artists can have the opportunity to showcase their work in a setting with a good floor, nice sightlines for dance, and a decent lighting system.
i http://www.musiccenter.org/about/press/2009/031709.html
ii Anna Kisselgoff. "CREATING A THEATER JUST FOR DANCE." The New York Times 07/26/1981 Page: A.18
iii http://www.joyce.org/about_venues.html.
The Music Center is currently home to the Los Angeles Opera, Center Theater Group, and LA Philharmonic. The area of major performing art that it lacks is dance. Dance at the Music Center is a noble program but doesn’t highlight any of the local dance ensembles the way that the other arts are represented. As the leading arts organization, the Music Center needs to step forward and make a commitment to the Los Angeles dance community. Some would argue that there is no major Los Angeles based dance company to present at the Music Center. While there may not be many dance companies on par with the international caliber of the opera led by Placido Domingo or the Phil there are good companies that could benefit from the exposure.
There are many things that the Music Center can do to develop audience interest in local companies and even broaden the palette of the audiences to be more interested in various forms of dance. The Center could produce dance festivals at the Ahmanson that might include a mix of local and imported talent. This might even be done in the intimate Kirk Douglas Theater run by Center Theater Group in Culver City. Either activity would bolster the Music Center as the anchor institution that it sees itself as. The problem with this plan is that anything done at either facility has to be scheduled around the calendars of the resident companies.
The true solution lies in the Music Center establishing a satellite theater exclusively for dance. This would complete the arts picture in the city and help generate even more cultural tourism dollars. With the revival of downtown LA as a destination area we could use the momentum to move forward with this plan even in a down economy. The taxpayers might not even have to fund it. Patrons such as Gloria Kaufmann have proven that they are willing and ready to support a more robust dance scene (she stepped forward to rescue the Dance at the Music Center season last year).i I propose we follow in the footsteps of what was done in New York with the Joyce Theater. A run down movie house was converted in 1981 into one of the premiere theaters just for dance in the nation.
This would not be a quick fix, the Joyce renovation took two years and careful attention was paid to maintain the exterior façade. The establishment of a dance venue would be a boon to local choreographers and companies who struggle to find an adequate location to present their work. The establishment of the Joyce Theater was done with private money, but a coalition of public, corporate, and private funds could make the same thing a reality here.ii One look at communities with smaller size theaters shows that those theaters do not want for bookings. The Joyce Theater in New York with 475 seats is booked non-stop and runs a campaign based on getting the audience closer to dance.iii
Taking run one of the run down movie houses on Broadway or somewhere else in the immediate area would kill two birds with one stone. It would save a landmark building and bring a state of the art facility (once the theater has been gutted and renovated) for dance to the community of dance and the community at large. This step would help to cement Los Angeles as the cultural capital of the country.
Detractors might point out that theaters already exist to serve the needs of dance artists. One look at the calendars of many theaters shows very little dance on their minds or a bias about local dance on theirs stages. The space to be created needs to be a presenter as well as have their doors opens wide to companies looking to present themselves. Once the new dance theater is opened it can become a hub for the dance community to share ideas, a centralized location to view dance so that we don’t have to drive all over the county to view dance and place that artists can have the opportunity to showcase their work in a setting with a good floor, nice sightlines for dance, and a decent lighting system.
i http://www.musiccenter.org/about/press/2009/031709.html
ii Anna Kisselgoff. "CREATING A THEATER JUST FOR DANCE." The New York Times 07/26/1981 Page: A.18
iii http://www.joyce.org/about_venues.html.
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