LITVAKdance has dedicated the Fall of 2021 to revisiting some of its most well-received repertoire from their four year tenure. At the Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family JCC, LITVAKdance will present five works full of punch, play and power. Choreographers include local dance icon and octogenarian Patricia Sandback, visiting choreographer Chuck Wilt and LITVAKdance artistic director, Sadie Weinberg. Performance event includes pre-concert complimentary cocktail and conversation with LITVAKdance artistic director, lobby art exhibition, intermission performance by Kelzmer violinist Yale Strom and access to current LFJCC photo exhibit, "Jerusalem: Art and Mystery" by Viviana Tagar. This is LITVAKdance's first main stage production since March, 2020. Note: Proof of COVID vaccination is required to enter LFJCC facilities. Program: "Rein" by Keith Johnson: Rein was originally commissioned as a part of LITVAKdance's virtual Fall 2020 production Polymorphic, a collaboration with composer/violinist Kristopher Apple. A play on words, the dance vacillates between the feeling of being reined with the release of a summer rainstorm. Keith is a professor of dance at CSU Long Beach and performed in NY with the companies of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Doug Varone and Dancers. "Radiant" by Chuck Wilt: Premiered in Fall 2019 and called 'turbulent and athletic' by dance critic Janice Steinberg, the 18-minute work for 6 dancers was inspired by the life and work of queer artist and AIDS activist, Keith Haring. Chuck directs Una Productions, a dance company currently based in San Fransisco. He is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. "Girls with Balls" by Patricia Sandback: A comic work created by the octogenarian in 2019, Girls with Ballstakes a serious look at all of the balls women are expected to keep afloat in life through witty and playful dance vignettes that include rhymes, spoken word and even a ukulele. Patricia was a professor of dance at San Diego State University for almost half a century. She continues to make work and perform in her retirement. Works by artistic director Sadie Weinberg: In addition to directing LITVAKdance Sadie teaches at UC San Diego and MiraCosta College. She holds a BFA from The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and an MFA from UC Irvine. "Another Ezio Summer: New and Archived Phrases": A work for 12 dancers, "Another Ezio Summer" brought the house down at LITVAKdance's Spring 2018 inaugural performance."I gave myself two tasks; never repeat and layer. I wanted to match the intensity of Ezio Bosso's music; just when it feels like the sound can’t possibly get bigger, it does." "The Practice of Coming Back": A solo with four supporting dancers inspired by company member, April Tra and her uncanny ability to shift seamlessly from intricate isolations to watery, full-bodied connectivity. The piece is a study on coming back to a movement idea; a metaphor for being forced to continue to grapple with the same thing over and over.
