{"id":2444506,"date":"2026-06-04T10:05:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2444506"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:05:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:05:35","slug":"l-a-dance-projects-city-of-dance-puts-free-dance-in-public-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/l-a-dance-projects-city-of-dance-puts-free-dance-in-public-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Dance Project’s ‘City of Dance’ puts free dance in public spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A horde of dancers scatter beneath the vaulted belly of Los Angeles County Museum of Art\u2019s recently opened David Geffen Galleries. One dancer folds their body, slowly easing their way to the ground, while the others watch. They\u2019re stumbling through choreography, rehearsing and laughing with each misstep.<\/p>\n

The clamor of visiting children echoes outside the concrete structure while music plays deeper within the campus where couples ballroom dance in the sun.<\/p>\n

Choreographer Madeline Hollander closes her red notebook and instructs the dancers to start from the beginning. Philip Glass\u2019 score for the critically acclaimed non-narrative 1982 documentary film \u201cKoyaanisqatsi\u201d plays as the dancers initiate the first moments of Hollander\u2019s choreography in the open space. The children stand nearby, watching in awe. Couples hold hands and linger, pausing as they realize a performance is underway. The dancers \u2014 now unified in formations that softly bleed into one another like clouds \u2014 demand attention. LACMA\u2019s campus, once filled with commotion, is now solely focused on a rehearsal for the U.S. premiere of a region-wide series of free public performances in landmark L.A. spaces called \u201cCity of Dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dancers from choreographer Benjamin Millepied\u2019s L.A. Dance Project rehearse at LACMA\u2019s David Geffen Galleries as part of a site-specific project called \u201cCity of Dance\u201d that will take place over two weeks at various Southern California landmarks.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Co-presented by L.A. Dance Project and Paris Dance Project, the initiative by choreographer and LADP co-founder Benjamin Millepied takes dance outside of the theater and brings it directly to the community. The work initially premiered in Paris in 2025, spreading across the French capital and four neighboring cities. The L.A. premiere, which began Tuesday, will travel to nine notable Southern California locations including Century Park, Marciano Art Foundation, Grand Avenue (in collaboration with the Colburn School), Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Art Park, Tongva Park in downtown Santa Monica, Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Gloria Molina Grand Park, and, finally, LACMA.<\/p>\n

The initiative is equally ambitious in the scope of its geography as well as in its curation. The final piece incorporates the work of five choreographers \u2014 Millepied, Hollander, Dimitri Chamblas, Jamar Roberts and Pam Tanowitz \u2014 into one piece performed by 14 dancers and set to Glass\u2019 score.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of communities and people who just haven\u2019t stepped foot into a theater, whether they don\u2019t have the means or they don\u2019t feel invited by the architecture,\u201d Millepied said in a recent interview. \u201cWhat I love about [\u2018City of Dance\u2019] is you stumble upon something where you\u2019re on equal footing with the dancer \u2026 there\u2019s something quite visceral about watching another human being dance right in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Contributing choreographer Madeline Hollander takes a break from rehearsal for L.A. Dance Project\u2019s site-specific work, \u201cCity of Dance.\u201d Hollander is one of five participating choreographers for the piece.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The locations were chosen for their visual and symbolic importance. Chamblas shaped his contribution based on each location\u2019s history, culture and energy. Place can dictate the feel of a particular action. For example, fight choreography might appear more playful in a park than on a stage. The everyday environment of each location also plays a large role in how the piece is perceived. Music blasting from car windows and pets running across the grass add layers of unpredictability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the work to exist within the context of life,\u201d Chamblas said.<\/p>\n

The film \u201cKoyaanisqatsi,\u201d directed by Godfrey Reggio, juxtaposes footage that centers on the relationship between nature, humanity and technology to depict industrialization and capitalism\u2019s impact on the climate. Millepied first saw the film when he was 18 and felt touched by it, recognizing its capacity to become a ballet. Over time, the idea organically evolved into \u201cLa Ville Dans\u00e9e\u201d \/ \u201dCity of Dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the film primarily features U.S. landscapes, both urban and environmental, Millepied considers the project\u2019s L.A. debut a homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a city like L.A., you\u2019re in this completely insane sprawling city that encompasses the American dream, Hollywood and its impact on the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Dancers <\/picture>\n
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Dancers rehearse at LACMA\u2019s David Geffen Galleries for a site-specific performance piece called \u201cCity of Dance,\u201d set to Philip Glass\u2019 score for the 1982 experimental documentary \u201cKoyaanisqatsi.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The title, \u201cKoyaanisqatsi,\u201d comes from the Hopi word meaning \u201clife out of balance.\u201d \u201cCity of Dance\u201d brings this message to the forefront through its choice of locations. LACMA, for example, represents art history and community, and with its nearly $724 million expansion, also becomes a symbol of capitalism. Throughout the run of the project, select performances will be followed by conversations on urbanism and environmental change.<\/p>\n

Hollander is particularly interested in bringing the message of the work to bear when it comes to the current ecological state of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cL.A. is learning to be a place that needs to sustain itself out of balance, in particular, since the fires,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat does it mean to actively be in a time of climate crisis where there are superstorms every two to three years instead of 100 years, and there are fires continuously? And yet, we all have to continue to flock together as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music of \u201cKoyaanisqatsi\u201d is split into separate sections, with a choreographer assigned to each. Hollander\u2019s section highlights patterns by pulling inspiration from bird and plane formations to represent communities coming together. This is in stark contrast to Chamblas\u2019 opening section, which is full of action, fighting and collision. Despite having different approaches to the score, each artist\u2019s choreographic voice flows seamlessly into the other. When assigning sections, Millepied used a curatorial eye to give the choreographers portions of music he knew they\u2019d be able to experiment with and make the most of.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, there was a reason why Pam got those 17 minutes and not Jamar, and why Jamar got those minutes and not Dimitri, and why Dimitri opened the piece,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Two <\/picture>\n
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Hope Spears, left, and Omri Mishael dance as part of of a site-specific work called \u201cCity of Dance\u201d being staged by L.A. Dance Project.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Each choreographer pulled ideas from the film and score to craft the imagery of the dance piece. Chamblas found inspiration from footage of falling buildings and Union Station at rush hour. Meanwhile, Roberts turned to the score, discovering similar emotions of falling and destruction in a fluctuating chorus. Much like the film, the choreography juxtaposes joy with despair in an ever-changing environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a compression of life, without transition, so you go from fighting to love, to forgetting, to dying, to rebirth,\u201d Chamblas said.<\/p>\n

This is not LADP\u2019s first site-specific public work. In 2013, the company collaborated with Yuval Sharon\u2019s avant-garde opera company, the Industry, on a performance piece called \u201cInvisible Cities\u201d that took place throughout downtown\u2019s bustling Union Station. Three years later, it partnered with the art collective Gerard & Kelly on an experimental project performed inside modernist dwellings, including the Schindler House.<\/p>\n

With \u201cCity of Dance,\u201d LADP advances its approach by putting its work in conversation with current socioeconomic and environmental issues and spreading it across Southern California. At a time when dance in L.A. feels precarious, with the closures of many leading institutions<\/a>, \u201cCity of Dance\u201d brings attention to the art form\u2019s ability to connect with the community and promote deeper conversations about the metropolis.<\/p>\n

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\"Dancers <\/picture>\n
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Dancers rehearse at LACMA\u2019s David Geffen Galleries as part of Benjamin Millepied\u2019s \u201cCity of Dance\u201d project.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cJust to witness how the human experience can be expressed through dance in this incredibly powerful way, we appreciate the beauty of an art that\u2019s so ephemeral, that happens in the moment and is completely fleeting, and that you can\u2019t possess,\u201d Millepied said. \u201cWe deal so much with the difficulties of being in the present and being together, and I think it makes dance feel more important.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Hollander closes her rehearsal at LACMA, the dancers run through the final phrase of the piece. They stand in a line with arms intertwined and swing their heads back to expose their faces to the clouds. Some smile, and some pensively stare over the curve of the David Geffen Galleries. They break away from the formation and leave.<\/p>\n

Soon, so do the kids and the couples. LACMA is quiet.<\/p>\n

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City of Dance<\/p>\n

Week 1<\/b>
Century Park<\/a>: Thursday, 12:30 p.m.
Marciano Art Foundation<\/a>: Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Grand Ave.<\/a>: Friday, 12:30 p.m.
Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Art Park<\/a>: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Tongva Park<\/a>: Sunday, 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Week 2<\/b>
Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara<\/a>: June 16, 3 p.m.
Hollywood Forever<\/a>: June 17, 7 p.m. (RSVP required)
Gloria Molina Grand Park at the Music Center<\/a>: June 18, noon
Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Art Park<\/a>: June 20, 11 a.m.
LACMA<\/a>: June 21, 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

ASL interpreter at Tongva Park June 7 and LACMA June 21 <\/i>
Live audio description at Grand Avenue June 5<\/i> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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