Alumni in the News: Ana Maria Alvarez
For Ana Maria Alvarez (MFA Dance, ’05), dance is a perfect medium for community engagement and activism: “When you think about activism, you think about that idea of putting your body on the line. You're putting yourself on the line, putting your ideas and your opinions out into the world, and that’s what dance does,” she says. With her company, CONTRA-TIEMPO, Ana Maria Alvarez choreographs and tours technically rigorous and thought provoking work, develops and implements community workshops and programming, and seeks to change the way that artists exist and function within communities. Read on for excerpts of press coverage of her ambitious initiatives, and a few insights she recently shared with UCLA Arts.
On developing her own form:
“I learned very early on that I wasn’t going to be a ballet dancer because of the shape of my body, but also because of the kinds of movement I really love to do and felt inspired by. . . So I started doing modern dance and studying Katherine Dunham and learning Afro-Cuban and Afro-Haitian and Ghanaian dance. I was so inspired by dance as this form of expression for life and for culture and for what’s happening in the world.” (KPCC’s The Frame)
"I helped to form a student dance troupe that was using hip-hop, tap and more urban forms. I was using my own background with other folks pioneering new ways of dancing and moving. I was creating my own work and trying to figure out how all these things inside my body worked together." (KCET)
Contra-Tiempo artistic director Ana María Alvarez works with dancers on "Agua Furiosa" in Los Angeles on Jan. 5, 2016. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
On making it as an artist:
“The life of an artist isn't always easy but it can be incredibly inspiring and fulfilling. If you can't imagine your life doing anything else and you know it's your calling, then roll your sleeves up and dive in. Build relationships with and ask for guidance from people who are working artists, living in a way that inspires you and creating the kind of work you hope to create. Share what you do with people freely; share what inspires you and what you are creating. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Don't believe it when people tell you something is impossible—that only means it hasn’t been done yet. I can't tell you how many times my refusal to believe in another person's limit has helped me tremendously! Also train, train, and train. Never stop training.” (As told to UCLA Arts)
On dance as change agent:
"Growing up the way I did, I always felt that my job as an artist was to figure out how to engage with society and create work that's in conversation with what's happening in the world and really have my art spark dialogue and be a catalyst for change, pushing forward ideas of community, love, compassion and justice." (Los Angeles Times)
"There are a lot of dancers and choreographers working within the form in a traditional way. I'm interested in breaking the rules and contemporizing the rules. How do these rules reflect my own aesthetic? The easiest example is gender rules in Salsa, where all of our men lead and women follow. We blow that up…I'm looking at the form not as a cultural dance form to replicate, but how can the language of these forms help us to express and articulate contemporary society and contemporary culture?" (KCET)
On her hopes for audiences:
"I hope that people don't just walk in, assuming, ‘This is what it's going to be.’ My goal is that everyone sees themselves somewhere in the work, no matter who you are, no matter where you're from, no matter where your family is rooted. It's a piece that connects to our humanity and connects to our relationship with our environment — we have a relationship with one another." (State Press)
"We're not doing this in isolation, we don't want you to sit there and be quiet. We want to know you're out there and feel your engagement." (Los Angeles Times)
"I love when people who think differently than me come to our shows and engage. My interest is not in preaching to the choir. It's about how do you actually facilitate dialogue and create shifting paradigms of conversations that are already happening." (KCET)
"The difference between preaching and creating work that's not preaching is coming from your own perspective; it's sharing your own story. Our work always starts from the personal to open the audience's perspective in seeing larger issues." (KCET)
CONTRA-TIEMPO "Agua Furiosa" Choreographic Lab #5
On engaging communities:
“CONTRA-TIEMPO seeks to change the way that artists exist and function within communities. For us, community engagement and artistic production are inextricably linked. We cannot exist outside of the communities that we inhabit. The experiences, cultural creations, and “we-stories” of our communities are the inspiration and motivation for our art making. It is our duty as artists to share our creative power to help grow the creative and social power of our communities.” (As told to UCLA Arts)
“We deeply believe that art and action are two sides of the same coin, as they both require the ability to imagine new possibilities and then create what does not yet exist. Both operate in the “in-between.” By engaging communities as participants and witnesses of arts experiences tied to their beautiful humanity, we endeavor to simultaneously awaken their sense of themselves as artists and as social change agents.” (As told to UCLA Arts)
On the importance of arts education:
“It's crucial. Even for students who are not interested in becoming professional artists, arts education allows people to learn, understand, and experience their own humanity and connection to others through self-expression. It builds skills that are fundamental, not only for individual happiness and success, but for the collective good—like compassion, resilience, the capacity to make mistakes and not give up, aesthetic awareness, skills in listening and observation, and critical thinking.” (As told to UCLA Arts)
CONTRA-TIEMPO huddles backstage
On the dance scene in Los Angeles:
“LA is a hotbed for dance right now. It is an exciting time to be a choreographer in LA, which has not always been the case. There are a few key folks with a real commitment to dance who control funding and presenting, and artists are continuing to create and generate without substantial governmental or community support. I would love to see regular everyday people get more involved in supporting the local arts ecosystem. There is so much money in LA, and so many talented artists. If there were just a way to have these folks meet, it could be tremendous for all involved!” (As told to UCLA Arts)
On World Arts & Cultures/Dance:
“UCLA was the only university I applied to for graduate school because I was certain that I was meant for this department. It was unique in that it connected my interests and passion for choreography with my commitment to social justice, working in communities, and creating work that was in conversation with what was happening in the world.” (As told to UCLA Arts)
Ana Maria Alvarez with her oldest son
On next steps:
“I recently adopted my second baby boy who is seven months, so I'm just now starting to feel a little more normal (meaning not so sleep deprived), and I am working on my Dunham Certification—like I said, never stop training!
As CONTRA-TIEMPO continues to tour Agua Furiosa we are beginning the process of creating a new work: joyUS. Whenever humans have survived immense hardship and injustice, prevailing with their humanity intact, the presence of joy or the knowingness and celebration of our true beauty and power has always been at the root. joyUS reclaims the dominant deficit based narrative of people of color in this country as being underprivileged, voiceless, powerless, and victimized, and flips it on its head by embodying stories of joy collected from communities of color in South Los Angeles. These stories will be personal truths about the power of hope, faith, and family, the strength of the villages that have raised our children, the wealth that lives in our collective histories of struggle and resistance.
In a few weeks, we will be having our huge annual gala. This event is an incredible party, with live music, dancing, live and silent auctions, open bar, delicious food—all to support our engagement and creative work. I would love to see some UCLA alumni there!
Finally, this summer we will be running two summer intensives: one at CSU Summer Arts in Fresno, and the CONTRA-TIEMPO Futuro Summer Intensive at Loyola Marymount. On July 19th we will also have auditions for new company members. It's going to be an exciting year!” (As told to UCLA Arts)
Read more about Ana Maria Alvarez:
Review Frida Kahlo meets John Coltrane in electric dance homage (Los Angeles Times)
Contra-Tiempo's 'Agua Furiosa' stirs up a maelstrom of issues (Los Angeles Times)
Performance Water Dancer: Ana María Alvarez (KCET)
LA-based dance company uses water to spark conversation about race (KPCC's The Frame)
Alabama Dance Festival to present ‘CONTRA-TIEMPO’ (Arts Birmingham)
An Extremely Incomplete List Of L.A. Arts Organizations That Have Benefited From NEA Funding (LAist)
CONTRA-TIEMPO Presents AGUA FURIOSA (See Dance News)
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This story is a part of the Spring 2017 UCLA Arts Newsletter. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive this quarterly newsletter directly to your inbox!