Press Release

L.A. Dance Project, led by Artistic Director Benjamin Millepied and the first Company-in-Residence at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, concludes its successful residency with three compelling Los Angeles premieres in a three-night engagement, Thursday through Saturday, April 5 through 7, 2018, (Thursday, April 5, 7:30 pm with a talk back immediately following the performance), Friday, April 6, 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 7, 2018, 7:30 pm) in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis.

Single tickets for L.A. Dance Project are now available.

The Los Angeles premieres include Yag, a work by Ohan Naharin that gradually reveals the relationships between six featured dancers through storytelling with dance, speech, visual symbolism and imaginative staging; Martha Graham’s Martha Graham Duets, celebrating Graham’s legacy as “Dancer of the Century” (Time), which juxtaposes three distinct pas de deux from the larger Graham works Diversion of Angels and Canticle for Innocent Comedians; and Millepied’s Sarabande, a ballet for four male dancers set to music by Bach.

Also featured is Helix, a dynamic exploration of geometry and motion by New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer Justin Peck, set to a score by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

A talk-back with the artists immediately follows the performance on Thursday, April 5.

“As The Wallis’s first Company-in-Residence, L.A. Dance Project has greatly enriched The Wallis’s artistic offerings with its exceptional artistry, bold and daring programming and commitment to education and community outreach,” says The Wallis’ Artistic Director Paul Crewes. “With these three Los Angeles premieres, the company continues to expand the boundaries of world-class dance in Los Angeles.”

“L.A. Dance Project is thrilled to return to The Wallis,” says Millipied. “This appearance is a wonderful homecoming for us that caps an extended national/international tour and sets the stage for the launch of our permanent new home in downtown LA in just a few short weeks, marking an exciting new chapter in the company’s history.” He adds, “We are grateful to The Wallis for providing us with the room, resources and counsel to grow. Not only have they generously included us in both their fall and spring programs, but they have provided opportunities to collaborate with their education and community engagement teams to develop outreach programs we hope to incorporate into our ongoing work as a company. As a start-up arts organization with big ambitions, the support of The Wallis has been – and continues to be – invaluable.”

A noted artist collective that integrates composers, musicians and visual artists into a collaborative creative process, L.A. Dance Project has toured extensively, performing around the globe in traditional and non-traditional spaces. From the beginning, the company has aspired to make dance that is at once artistically excellent and widely accessible. Millepied, formerly a star dancer with the New York City Ballet and artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet and choreographer for the acclaimed movie Black Swan, co-founded the collective in 2012 with composers Nico Muhly and Nicholas Britell, art consultant Matthieu Humery and producer Charles Fabius.

The L.A. Dance Project artists, “all accomplished, unusually vivid and individual” (New York Times), include dancers Aaron Carr, David Adrian Freeland Jr., Kaitlyn Gilliland, Axel Ibot, Nathan Makolandra, Francisco Mungamba, Rachelle Rafailedes, Janie Taylor and Patricia Zhou and apprentices Daisy Jacobson and Miranda Wattier. Sebastien Marcovici is the ballet master.

Running time is 2 hours, including 15-minute intermission