Celebrating 40 years of presenting soulful, imaginative dance that takes audience members on their own journey of self-discovery, Louise Reichlin & Dancers/ Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers presents an inspiring weekend filled with dance and multimedia on Saturday and Sunday, October 19 & 20. The 2:00 p.m. performances feature the family-friendly award-winning dance/multimedia narrated production of The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Learn more.

In this adapted narrated story, the dance follows characters from the “Wizard of Oz” and introduce new ones  like the exuberant title character the Patchwork Girl. Another new character, Ogo, a sheltered youngster, sees his Uncle turned into a marble rock, and must make friends and work with others to bring him to life again. This production is appropriate for all ages from tiny ones to discriminating grandparents. Although known as stories for the young, L. Frank Baum was way ahead of his time, with superstrong female characters, diversity as part of his storyline, and advanced technology – he has Glinda, Sorcerous of the South, invent wireless technology at the beginning of the story- and this was in 1913!

Louise Reichlin & Dancers, non-profit name – Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers, has created over 100 works reviewed as “wildly theatrical & fun” and “wonderfully spirited with a zest for life”.  Founded by Reichlin in 1979, Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers (LA C&D) creates and presents innovative dance works with imagination, feelings, and communication being the inspiration for every piece. Whether presenting a concert performance or enriching the lives of LA area students through arts education, we believe that our work sparks imagination, creativity, self-discovery, and empowers our diverse audience members to expand their understanding of life.

Two companies, Louise Reichlin & Dancers (modern) and Zapped Taps™/ Alfred Desio (tap) made up LA C&D until Desio’s death in 2007. Acknowledged as multi-cultural, we strive to reflect the diversity of the city in our dancers, board and staff. 

The Patchwork Girl of Oz has played to sold out houses in 7 states and returns to Los Angeles where it all began.

“…a gift for arresting dance imagery”  –LA Times”

Unique…cinematic montages” –Dance Magazine

EVENT #2-
The Tennis Dances (complete)
A Jewish Child’s Story

Celebrating 40 years of presenting soulful,  imaginative dance that takes audience members on their own journey of self-discovery,  Louise Reichlin & Dancers/ Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers presents an inspiring weekend filled with dance and multimedia, featuring a special program of The Tennis Dances (complete), and the Los Angeles premiere of A Jewish Child’s Story. It’s our 40th  AnniversaryCelebration!

WHEN:   October 19 & 20, 2019; 4:00 p.m.

TICKETS: $25 general admission; $20 for children 12 and under, seniors over 65, and DRC. Group sale of $60 for four tickets at $15 each. On Sunday only we have $40 admission + champagne reception to celebrate our 40th Anniversary.

HOW:

Buy tickets online or call 800-838-3006 to purchase. You may also call 213-385-1171 for more information or to make a reservation.

The 4:00 p.m. performances feature “A Jewish Child’s Story, Part I: A Dream The Roses on My Wallpaper “, an autobiographical dance multimedia work of early dreams from a granddaughter of Jewish immigrants and “Part 2: Yellow Star”.

This marks a Los Angeles premiere for the work, which was put on its theatrical feet by a grant from DCA’s LA Stage Advance, where the company was given the Madrid Theater and a crew for a week to get photos and a video to help see the piece more clearly, and which also helped the company put together marketing materials. The moving work has now been presented in Las Vegas, where it had its world premiere, in Santa Barbara and Culver City, and now arrives back for its Los Angeles premiere.

Also featured on the program is the full version of “The Tennis Dances” (’79). It remains Louise Reichlins most acclaimed work, with countless performances at outdoor festivals and major theaters for audiences of thousands, to small galleries and elementary school stages yet rarely has a chance to be seen in its entirety in Los Angeles. It provides an overview of modern society using tennis as a metaphor. The moods range from a lighthearted bluegrass section to a tennis match ritualized and fought to the death. The complete work is in eleven sections and 28′ and uses music by Fanshawe, Ives, Stravinsky, Mihaud, Sarkisian and Orff, as well as medieval and electronic scores.

From a few reviews:
-“Among the group pieces, Louise Reichlin’s Tennis Dances, for a dozen members of Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers, had to be the most provocative. A potpourri that vaguely satirizes pomposity, exoticism, period cutesiness and contrived elegance, that probes ancient mystery and indulges contemporary whimsy – all with the unlikely but clever metaphor of racquets and nets.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner
-“(The program) ended brilliantly, thanks to Reichlin’s Tennis Dances, which dates back to 1979. In this ten-part suite the tennis court becomes a metaphor, of course, for life’s stage. And life, as Reichlin sees it, is indeed a stage, one crowded with a broad spectrum of attitudes. …Here is a choreographer who arguably picks up the feminist point of view where Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis left off. To observe the universe as it is inhabited by women, she harks back to ancient times and mythic symbols.” DanceMagazine

Louise Reichlin & Dancers, non-profit name – Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers, has created over 100 works reviewed as “wildly theatrical & fun” and “wonderfully spirited with a zest for life”.  Founded by Reichlin in 1979, Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers (LA C&D) creates and presents innovative dance works with imagination, feelings, and communication being the inspiration for every piece. Whether presenting a concert performance or enriching the lives of LA area students through arts education, we believe that our work sparks imagination, creativity, self-discovery, and empowers our diverse audience members to expand their understanding of life.

Two companies, Louise Reichlin & Dancers (modern) and Zapped Taps™/ Alfred Desio (tap) made up LA C&D until Desio’s death in 2007. Acknowledged as multi-cultural, we strive to reflect the diversity of the city in our dancers, board and staff.

“…a gift for arresting dance imagery”  –LA Times”

Unique…cinematic montages” –Dance Magazine