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WESTMINSTER, CA: Louise Reichlin & Dancers presents excerpts from "dis-located" at Orange County Dance Festival

Company:
Louise Reichlin & Dancers / Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers

In 1989 more and more homeless were beginning to line city streets, and Louise
Reichlin had a premonition that someday she might become a "bag-lady" if she continued
to spend all her funds on developing her dance company. She was also working with
homeless students in the public schools, and wanted to explore what they were going
through and feeling, and how those feelings could be expressed by a dance work. The
resulting piece, "dis-located", was set on three homeless people, but it grew out of specific
feelings and how they crystallize into movement, also focusing on disempowerment of
women. The feelings are those we have when we deal with displacement- like the
immigrant who arrives in a new land, the situation of transition and instability, and loss,
whether of a relationship or a job that has provided security in the past. The excerpts
realized for this 2021 festival focus on just one of the original figures that is part of a
group of tough street kids, played here by Jill Elaine Collins.

The original work was created in 1989 by Louise Reichlin, with music by Michael
Shrieve, Steve Roach, David Torn, Spielman und kleriker (Lai des Amans), Sergei
Prokofiev with an Original score by Paul Hodgins.

Current dancers include:
1- Katelyn Martin, Jill Elaine Collins, Eve Metsäranta
2- Eve Metsäranta, Caitlin M Heflin, Jill Elaine Collins, Katelyn Martin
3- Jill Elaine Collins, Artur Aleksanyan
4- Katelyn Martin, Jill Elaine Collins, Eve Metsäranta

This is Louise Reichlin & Dancers/ Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers
first live performance in over a year. Like others in the dance industry, they suddenly
found that all dance studios had to be closed, and only virtual work using Zoom was a
possibility. With the aid of an EIDL SBA grant they were able to pay their dancers and
begin transferring their school programs to a virtual format, with the company members
also creating their own series of free Instagram classes. To help with this new format,
Reichlin also found a consultant through Taproot Plus that helps pair corporate workers
who volunteer for small non-profits. Besides transferring their current programs to be
done virtually, she produced the 14th annual San Pedro Festival of the Arts virtually to
stream, also creating a work with each dancer in their own space, superimposing them on
older footage of a work of hers Alone from Urban and Tribal Dances, and ultimately
reimagining three other works from that piece at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. Those
works are streaming through April 30 at vimeo.com/showcase/urbanandtribaldances. The subject matter was also around Director Reichlin, as there were several homeless
communities with multiple tents on her block for most of the Pandemic.

The company has been working virtually at schools in the LA Unified, and in
conjunction with a residency at Melvin Elementary, will also be streaming the thematic
work for the school of Reichlin's The Patchwork Girl of Oz based on the book by L Frank
Baum. There is a private showing at the school that includes students that have been
studying with them as well as a past performance by the professional company at the
Mark Taper Auditorium at the Los Angeles Central Library. This Taper performance will
be streaming free beginning April 28 through May 12 at
vimeo.com/showcase/thepatchworkgirlofoz, a wonderful family program with a story
based on the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Also in the free stream folder is a
short Zoom feature with members of the original cast from the performances in 2001 and
2002 when the work was first created.

The 41 year old company has more than 100 works by Founding Artistic &
Managing Director Louise Reichlin, and they range from their signature work created in
1979, The Tennis Dances, to Tap-Dance Widows Club, and more recent award winning
productions including The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Invasion, and A Jewish Child's Story.
They have toured the country with their diverse repertoire and company, and also have a
nationally known program for educational dance residencies, providing them locally for
the LA Unified School District and 15 other districts in Los Angeles County.

Louise Reichlin & Dancers burst into the public eye with their first performance
at the Anson Ford Theatre when "Reichlin created a sensation with The Tennis Dances
(Dance News). Over the years she has continued to examine our society from its most
primitive nature to the emergence of the information age with The E-mail Dances in
1996. Through multiple performances for the 23rd Olympiad, a summer series at the LA
Zoo, touring the US and Mexico Reichlin has consistently and continually created
"probing and provocative" works (Dance Magazine) enjoyed by all ages. Her work
illuminates life with reviews like "Before a triumphant finale, a world and its history have
passed before our eyes, thanks to Louise Reichlin." (Los Angeles Times). 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 TapsTM/ 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