Santa Monica Tongva Park Kicks off After Dark Series this Month
Lionel Popkin, chiar of the UCLA Department of Worlds Arts and Cultures/Dance (WACD) is a choreographer whose work has been seen in numerous cities throughout the US and in Europe, has been a dancer in a number of companies, and has served on the faculty of numerous prestigious colleges and universities. Defined by a dynamic blend of theory and practice, WACD is the place to make dances, explore digital media, curate exhibitions, become an arts activist, and develop scholarly expertise in culture and the arts.
"Inflatable Park," a new, site-specific dance work by Los Angeles choreographer Lionel Popkin, will be presented Wednesday, April 20 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. and is free to the public, officials said.
The City's Cultural Affairs Division commissioned the work especially for Tongva Park, which opened in September 2013.
Nine dancers will "lean into, lie on top of and hang off of each other and bounce off the air-filled living furniture" nestled in the midst of the park, organizers said.
“The dance looks, sometimes askance, at the systems of support that surround us, including people, objects and social structures,” Popkin said about the work.
Popkin, who is chair of the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA, has presented his work nationally and internationally, including in Los Angeles at The Getty Museum, REDCAT, and Highways; in New York City and London, and at the Guongdong Modern Dance Festival in Guongzhou. — Santa Monica Lookout Staff, Apr. 8
Tongva Park will be converted into an inflatable living room for dancers as Santa Monica kicks off its third season of "Tongva After Dark" events this month, City officials announced Thursday.
Read the full article at the Santa Monica Lookout website.