Stubborn Dance in L.A.

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.

"I knew I had been trained by some of the men and women at the top of their game," says Homsey. "I felt a responsibility to these people who gave me so much, to pass on their legacy. By creating a company I could track the modern dance tradition from its inception through preservation and performance with dancers who had worked directly with the pioneering generation." It also became part of Homsey's vision not only to restore historic works to their original power in performance but also to document and safeguard them for future generations.

Registering the name of her newly formed company at City Hall, she learned that she was using the same name once used by Lester Horton, more than twenty-five years earlier. Their companies both shared the name Los Angeles Dance Theater. Hers would be a repertory company performing the works of the great modern dance heroes, including Horton.

American Repertory Dance Company replaced Los Angeles Dance Theater as a performance company in 1994, when Janet Eilber joined Homsey as co-artistic director. Eilber has since moved on to direct the Martha Graham Dance Company, leaving the reins with Homsey, with the support of Nancy Colahan (formerly of Lar Lubovitch and then White Oak Dance Project) and John Pennington (formerly with Bella Lewitzky).

Homsey continues to drive the reconstruction process forward with over forty works in her repertory including the choreography of Isadora Duncan, Michio Ito, Pearl Primus, Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham, Helen Tamiris, Mary Wigman, and Agnes de Mille. Homsey is currently restoring works of the next generation of American choreographers such as Susan Marshall and Lubovitch. ARDC is currently performing all over Los Angeles in dance outreach performances and will participate in the University of Wyoming Dance Festival July 19-30.

"I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THAT BECAUSE I'M IN L.A. I'M LESS THAN SOMEONE IN NEW YORK."

DONNA STERNBERG

THE CURTAIN RISES. Donna Sternberg and her seven female dancers emerge. Skillfully, they chasse out, uniformly break into deep contractions, then spiral down to the floor. They tuck and roll into a heap of bodies on the floor, using muscle against gravity.

Driven and committed to explore the communicative power of movement, Sternberg holds onto a belief that art is worth struggling for. Donna Sternberg and Dancers is celebrating its fifteenth year in Los Angeles, despite financial uncertainty, a lack of media exposure, dubious commitments from company members, rehearsal space dilemmas, and a lack of community interest in dance.

"People ask me, when are you going to give it up and get a real job? I always have to tell them, this is not my hobby, it's my profession. I've never felt shame in saying I'm a dancer and choreographer. I have to do what I do, even if the return is minimal."

Sternberg's choreography is concerned with the human experience, the common ties that bind all people. Pieces range from pure movement to the exploration of concepts or emotional and societal issues. "We unfortunately are living in a time when Seinfeld is considered high art," says Sternberg. "People have become complacent with the excesses of electronic media entertainment and live-action, special-effect extravaganzas. Audiences don't have to mentally engage," says Sternberg. "It's just fed to them. A modern dance concert requires that you think and try to find meaning in what you are watching."

Sternberg has premiered over forty works with her company, moving in a weave that encompasses the techniques that she's studied: Graham, Limon, Cunningham, and Nikolais. Ballet, ethnic movement, and even yoga reveal themselves if her choreography demands it.

"The creating of the work never loses its fascination for me, regardless of the return," she says. "I would love to say my company is touring forty-five cities throughout the United States and I can pay dancers high salaries so they don't need to work outside. But whether I achieve this or not, ultimately my concern is to continue doing that which I find intrinsically fulfilling." Her Nuestras Nobles Parks Tienen Los Dientes premieres at Loyola Marymount University June 2-4.

"I HAVE TO DO WHAT I DO AND I HAVE TO DO IT HERE. L.A. ALLOWS ME TO EXPERIMENT, CREATE, AND EXPLORE. I CAN DRAW FROM MY BACKGROUND AND MY INFLUENCES AND TAKE THEM TO ANOTHER LEVEL."

FRANCISCO MARTINEZ

FRANCISCO MARTINEZ'S audiences quite often don't understand his work. They come in expecting to see Mexican folk dance or flamenco. What they get from this mostly Latino troupe is classic modern dance.

"Because I discuss my views, my history, and the Latin experience through the abstract language of modern dance, some don't understand what it's about unless I throw in a sombrero. Maybe it would be less confusing if I changed my name to Frank Martin," says Martinez jokingly.

In his early 20s, Martinez attended concerts given by Bella Lewitzky, Jose Limon, and Lar Lubovitch. Their dances and choreography so inspired him, he decided he, too, would need to make dances. With only a few dollars in his pocket, he took off for New York. He studied with Hanya Holm and quickly apprenticed with Murray Louis and Alwin Nikolais. To pay for lessons, he washed the studio floors every night and ironed costumes, all the while observing the great masters at work.

"I learned how to think like a dancer, use my body correctly, understand dance from a theatrical perspective, compose and create, light and design costumes," says Martinez. "I still draw from all the knowledge of those early years." After three years of study, Nikolais told him, "It's time for you to move on and do your own work. Speak about what you know and examine your roots and your heritage."

So eighteen years ago, Martinez returned to Los Angeles and created Francisco Martinez Dance Theater.

"As I developed as an artist, I realized that my experience went way beyond the color of my skin and my own personal history," says Martinez. "My work today is created for a broad audience ... I draw my vocabulary and inspiration from those that evolved the art form and although I work in the post-modern dance era, I chose to remain true to its original form and foundation." Martinez shies away from elaborate sets, gimmicks, or special effects.

"I get letters all the time from young kids who say to me, I liked your dance presentation because I understood it, and the dancers looked strong. When I know that I have touched a young soul, I feel I've chosen the right path--and it does happen here in the city of angels."

Martinez's Miniatures, inspired by the paintings of Modigliani, O'Keeffe, and Millet, is set to premiere April 29 at the Madrid Theater in Canoga Park, California.

"I LOVE IT HERE. IF I WENT SOMEPLACE ELSE, I'D HAVE TO JUST START OVER. I MIGHT AS WELL STAY HERE AND STICK IT OUT ... WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY."

LULA WASHINGTON

IN ITS twentieth-anniversary year, the Lula Washington Dance Theater attracted national attention with an engagement at the Joyce Theater. "As a choreographer and company, Lula Washington is doing something more than right," wrote Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times. "LWDT projects a remarkably vivid mix of purity and dynamism. In short, there is a boisterous and refreshing quality about this marvelous interracial company from Los Angeles."

Last year the company toured thirty-five cities. It plans an equally demanding itinerary for the year 2000, in pursuit of an itch that must be scratched: Lula Washington's need to tell stories about her history and culture, past, present, and future.

A school that produces choreographers and dancers has been part of the mission and vision almost from the start, "to give back to the community socially and artistically," Washington says.

She and her husband, Erwin, who quit his job as a journalist to manage the company and earns less now than he did at 19, put so much of themselves into their work that their files, papers, costumes, and even sets have spilled from their office into their dining room and now into the living room of their home. Their daughter Tamica Washington, 29, dances with the company and helps with everything from clerical work to teaching to occasionally mopping the studio floor.

"I've never been in a position where I could just focus on creative work," says Lula Washington. "It's always been about dealing with some financial or social crisis or natural disaster." (Her first studio barely survived the L.A. riots, only to be destroyed in the 1994 earthquake.) "All these things take away the focus. It's always a tug of war with the business of dance and the art of dance," she says.

"The first twenty years we survived on our own energy," says Erwin Washington. "If we are going to survive another twenty years, we will need to reassess how to build a solid infrastructure and generate income. If we can't pay dancers, they can't eat, and-if they can't eat, they can't dance."

"It doesn't help to get mad or frustrated," says Lula Washington. "If you do, then you can't work, you can't think, and you can't choreograph." So the Washingtons continue to do what they've always done: push hard, stay focused, and create exciting work, which this year includes a twentieth-anniversary concert in their problematic home town.