Stubborn Dance in L.A - modern dance has little success in L.A - Brief Article

Five companies tilt against the movie machine.

HOW COULD a city that nurtured the likes of Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Lester Horton, Carmen de Lavallade, Alvin Ailey, Bella Lewitzky, Agnes de Mille, and Twyla Tharp fall flat on its face in creating a modern dance tradition of its own? Maintaining contemporary modern dance companies in Los Angeles and filling concert halls has been like pulling teeth. With numerous factors conspiring against the art form, it's no wonder dance has failed to establish roots. Angelenos have never had a central cultural center in which to experience performance art. L.A. is nothing more than a series of separate communities interconnected by freeways and city streets. People are forced to travel vast distances for recreation or artistic entertainment.

"Anyone who chooses to have a dance company here in L.A. deserves a medal," says choreographer Donald McKayle. He gave it a whirl back in the early 1970s with his Inner City Repertory Dance Company. It didn't take him long to discover that the city's obsession with moving pictures had nothing to do with bodies in motion. His company survived three years. The Hollywood machine dominates the L.A. psyche, drawing the focus away from art forms such as modern dance.

In spite of all the reasons not to have a dance company here, there have always been choreographers who do it anyway. Bella Lewitzky did it, and Lester Horton before her, setting a precedent and a standard for future dancers and choreographers, such as the five whose stories follow-- five stubborn talents who just may be turning Tinseltown around.

"PEOPLE IN L.A. HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH MODERN DANCE. WHEN I MEET SOMEONE NEW AND TELL THEM I'M A DANCER, THEY THINK I'M A STRIPPER."

LAURA GORENSTEIN-MILLER

WITH CHUTZPAH, talent, marketing skills, and an excellent agent, Laura Gorenstein-Miller and Helios have made a quick rise in what feels like the time it takes to boil an egg. Helios Dance Theater, an all-woman troupe named after the mythological chariot that pulls the sun across the sky and reflects Gorenstein-Miller's fiery spirit, has only been around since 1996. Speeding past several of L.A.'s long-standing companies, Helios was the only local troupe to be included in the UCLA 1998-99 Center for the Performing Arts season, alongside Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, and the White Oak Dance Project. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Gorenstein is a bright, distinguished voice in dance, and Helios, a reflection of her gifts, is ready to leap into a larger spotlight."

Originally from Milwaukee, Gorenstein-Miller moved to Southern California to attend the California Institute of the Arts, where she earned a degree in dance.

"My company emerged out of necessity," insists Gorenstein-Miller. "As a dancer and creative individual I didn't want to be anyone else's instrument but my own. Movement has always been my language and how I communicate with the world, so I had to pursue my own course." Gorenstein-Miller digs within ballet, modern dance, and pedestrian gesture to invent and discover raw movement vocabulary.

L.A.'s youth-culture, movie-obsessed, edgy, funky, flavor of the month, anything-goes lifestyle could not be a better laboratory for Gorenstein-Miller.

One of her favorite pieces, Angels Domain, is drawn from her observations of people in and around L.A. It is a surrealistic story involving a tense relationship between lovers, nannies pushing baby carriages, and starlets parading around in a snake pit of Hollywood promises. The piece ends with a dramatic portrait of the fallen angel of Los Angeles.

Gorenstein-Miller is one of a new breed of choreographers who work in both the concert and commercial worlds. She says she sees no conflict in choreographing for commercial projects even though she is artistic director of her own dance company. She recently choreographed the dance sequences for Stevie Wonder's "Treat Myself' video and other projects.

"I don't know if I'm ignorant or just optimistic, but I think we can make dance happen here," says Gorenstein-Miller. "In L.A. you have no defined path. There is no exact formula for success. You have to forge your own road."

On April 28, Helios will perform at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. In 2001, the company will premiere a full-length piece on the life of Anne Frank.

"I FEEL LIKE A PIONEER, ASKING AUDIENCES TO DISCOVER THE LEGACY OF MODERN DANCE THROUGH AUTHENTIC RECONSTRUCTED WORKS FROM THE VISIONARIES WHO CREATED THEM."

BONNIE ODA HOMSEY

L.A., probably more than any other place, has a spirit of openness and adventure, with no preconceptions about what things should be like. This is very much in keeping with the soul of modern dance," says Bonnie Oda Homsey, artistic director of American Repertory Dance Company. "With its wide expanses, experimental nature, and pioneering spirit, L.A. seemed the perfect place for a modern dance company."

In 1978, Homsey and her husband settled in Los Angeles and eventually gave birth to three daughters and a dance company. Homsey, a Martha Graham dancer for seven years, had also worked with Jose Limon, Antony Tudor, and Anna Sokolow.