Excerpts from at Rose Center Theater

Excerpts from "dis-located" presented by Louise Reichlin & Dancers / Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers as part of the Orange County Dance Festival.

Reimagining of the 1989 work "dis-located".

In 1989 more and more homeless were beginning to line city streets, and Louise Reichlin had a premonition that someday she might become a "bag-lady" if she continued to spend all her funds on developing her dance company. She was also working with homeless students in the public schools, and wanted to explore what they were going through and feeling, and how those feelings could be expressed by a dance work. The resulting piece, dis-located, was set on three homeless people, but it grew out of specific feelings and how they crystallize into movement, also focusing on disempowerment of women. The feelings are those we have when we deal with displacement- like the immigrant who arrives in a new land, the situation of transition and instability, and loss, whether of a relationship or a job that has provided security in the past. The excerpts realized for this 2021 festival focus on just one of the original figures that is part of a group of tough street kids, played here by Jill Elaine Collins.

The original work was created in 1989 by Louise Reichlin, with music by Michael Shrieve, Steve Roach, David Torn, Spielman und kleriker(Lai des Amans), Sergei Prokofiev with an Original score by Paul Hodgins. Current dancers include:1- Katelyn Martin, Jill Elaine Collins, Eve Metsranta, 2- Eve Metsranta, Caitlin M Heflin, Jill Elaine Collins, Katelyn Martin, 3- Jill Elaine Collins, Artur Aleksanyan, 4- Katelyn Martin, Jill Elaine Collins, Eve Metsranta.

This is Louise Reichlin & Dancers/ Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers first live performance in over a year. Like others in the dance industry, they suddenly found that all dance studios had to be closed, and only virtual work using Zoom was a possibility. With the aid of an EIDL SBA grant they were able to pay their dancers and begin transferring their school programs to a virtual format, with the company members also creating their own series of free Instagram classes. To help with this new format, Reichlin also found a consultant through Taproot Plus that helps pair corporate workers who volunteer for small non-profits. Besides transferring their current programs to be done virtually, she produced the 14th annual San Pedro Festival of the Arts virtually to stream, also creating a work with each dancer in their own space, superimposing them on older footage of a work of hers "Alone" from "Urban and Tribal Dances", and ultimately reimagining three other works from that piece at the Ivy Substation in Culver City.

The subject matter was also around Director Reichlin, as there were several homeless communities with multiple tents on her block for most of the Pandemic. The company has been working virtually at schools in the LA Unified, and in conjunction with a residency at Melvin Elementary, will also be streaming the thematic work for the school of Reichlin's "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" based on the book by L Frank Baum. There is a private showing at the school that includes students that have been studying with them as well as a past performance by the professional company at the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Los Angeles Central Library. This Taper performance will be streaming free beginning April 28 through May 12 at vimeo.com/showcase/thepatchworkgirlofoz, a wonderful family program with a story based on the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Also in the free stream folder is a short Zoom feature with members of the original cast from the performances in 2001 and2002 when the work was first created.

The 41 year old company has more than 100 works by Founding Artistic & Managing Director Louise Reichlin, and they range from their signature work created in 1979,The Tennis Dances, to Tap-Dance Widows Club,and more recent award winning productions including The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Invasion, and A Jewish Child's Story.

They have toured the country with their diverse repertoire and company, and also have a nationally known program for educational dance residencies, providing them locally for the LA Unified School District and 15 other districts in Los Angeles County. Louise Reichlin & Dancers burst into the public eye with their first performance at the Anson Ford Theatre when "Reichlin created a sensation with The Tennis Dances(Dance News). Over the years she has continued to examine our society from its most primitive nature to the emergence of the information age with The E-mail Dances in 1996. Through multiple performances for the 23rd Olympiad,a summer series at the LA Zoo, touring the US and Mexico, Reichlin has consistently and continually created"probing and provocative" works (Dance Magazine) enjoyed by all ages. Her work illuminates life with reviews like "Before a triumphant finale, a world and its history have passed before our eyes, thanks to Louise Reichlin." (Los Angeles Times). Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers (LA C&D) creates and presents innovative dance works with imagination, feelings, and communication being the inspiration for every piece.Two companies,Louise Reichlin & Dancers(modern)and Zapped Taps/ AlfredDesio(tap) made up LA C&D until Desio's death in 2007. Acknowledged as multi-cultural, we strive to reflect the diversityof the city in our dancers, board and staff."...a gift for arresting dance imagery" -LA Times"Unique...cinematic montages" -Dance Magazine