"I thought City Center had really created something special," OCPAC executive vice president Judy Morr told The Los Angeles Times about why she imported Fall for Dance to California. "Part of the responsibility of a performing arts center is to do new things, and I believe this festival presents a great opportunity."
"We're trying to cast a wider net for what we think is an accessible introduction to dance," OCPAC marketing and communications head Todd Bentjen told the paper, "or an opportunity for people who've been coming to see dance for 20 years to try something beyond their comfort zone."
The OCPAC "Fall for Dance" kicks off with a program of Indian classical dance by the London-based choreographer Nina Rajarani and her company, Srishti; Kiss, a program by Susan Marshall & Company set to music by Arvo P‹rt; and appearances by the Boston and Pacific Northwest Ballets and the South African group Via Katlehong Dance. These works are all part of Program A, which will be repeated on October 12.
Program B (on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14) features Charles Moulton and The Ball Passing Project performing the premiere of 48 Person Ball Passing Combine (billed as "part dance, part game and part moving puzzle"), the Dutch National Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Alonzo King's contemporary troupe LINES Ballet, and Rennie Harris Puremovement performing the acrobatic Students of the Asphalt Jungle.
Project Bandaloop, from the San Francisco Bay Area, will perform aerial dance on the plaza outside Segerstrom Hall after each show.
For more information about the West Coast debut of "Fall for Dance," visit www.ocpac.org.