BODYTRAFFIC, Royal Theatre, February 10 + 11, 2023, 7:30 pm
Dance Victoria presents the Victoria premiere of Los Angeles contemporary dance company, BODYTRAFFIC, on February 10 and 11, 2023 at the Royal Theatre for an exciting mixed program of works by five choreographers.
Marrying a youthful, urban edge with technical precision, BODYTRAFFIC’s company of dancers embodies a wide spectrum of today’s most pressing issues, from corporate greed and the growing opioid crisis to conformity, individuality, and the power of positive thinking.
BODYTRAFFIC opens the program with A Million Voices, from American ballet dancer, choreographer, and co-founder of BalletX, Matthew Neenan. A lighthearted and whimsical ode to Peggy Lee’s iconic jazz standard by the same name, this infectious piece featuring seven dancers reminds us that even during our toughest moments, life is always worth enjoying.
Commissioned by BODYTRAFFIC, the company presents The One To Stay With from New York’s politically charged choreographic duo Baye & Asa, recently recognized in Dance Magazine’s 2022 “25 To Watch” list. Inspired by Patrick Radden Keefe’s 2021 book, The Empire of Pain, about the Sackler family’s role in “Big Pharma” and the current opioid epidemic, The One To Stay With for eight dancers tackles ideas of power, greed and deceit, punctuated by a lively score of Russian waltzes and Romanian folk songs.
Also on the program is the up-tempo SNAP, from rising L.A.-based choreographic star Micaela Taylor. Set to a hybrid score of James Brown hits, “I Got The Feelin” and “Super Bad,” and infused with original music from SCHOCKE, the work for six dancers is inspired by the ethnically diverse, yet often isolating crowds of Los Angeles. Taylor’s decisive, hip hop-infused choreography urges audiences to “snap out of” pressures to conform, encouraging us to embrace the individuality of our own selves as well as those around us.
Concluding the program is the dreamlike PACOPEPEPLUTO from the Chicago-based Alejandro Cerrudo, who was Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s first-ever resident choreographer from 2008 to 2018, before taking on the same role with Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2020. PACOPEPEPLUTO is a crowd favourite, showcasing the physicality of three statuesque male dancers who each perform an athletically charged solo set to a Dean Martin classic. Note: This work has partial nudity.
Lauded for their “fierce technique” (Los Angeles Times) and ability to “combine the simple with the smart, the thoughtful with the visceral, the difficult with the detailed” (The Calgary Herald), BODYTRAFFIC was founded in 2007 by two New York transplants, Tina Finkelman Berkett and Lillian Rose Barbeito. Working with some of the world’s most exciting emerging choreographic talents, the company has built an international reputation for its genre-defying repertoire and highly kinetic and eclectic movement vocabulary. The company has toured extensively throughout the United States as well as internationally, most notably, as U.S. cultural ambassadors through the national program DanceMotion USA.
Now in its 15th year, BODYTRAFFIC is helmed by Berkett as sole Artistic Director. Berkett launched her dance career at Aszure Barton & Artists, becoming a feature dancer and dance teacher with the company in the U.S. and abroad. She later toured internationally alongside legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, as a founding member of Hell’s Kitchen Dance, before relocating to Los Angeles and co-founding BODYTRAFFIC.
BODYTRAFFIC
Mixed Repertoire
Friday + Saturday, February 10 + 11, 7:30 pm
Free Pre-Show Talk: 6:50pm
Royal Theatre
How to Buy
Visit the Royal and McPherson Theatres website for current Box Office hours.
Phone the Royal Box Office: 250-386-6121 or Toll Free 1-888-717-6121, Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (closed 1:00 to 1:30 pm)
Online: DanceVictoria.com
SINGLE TICKET PRICES (NON-SUBSCRIBER PRICING)
| Loge | $129 |
| Premium | $119 |
| A | $99 |
| B | $79 |
| C+ | $39 |
| C | $31 |
Pay Your Age (ages 12 to 29) and Night Moves (ages 30 to 45) tickets are also available.
About Dance Victoria
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from its studios in Quadra Village. As a non-profit charitable society, Dance Victoria operates with the mission to promote the appreciation of dance by developing and presenting diverse local, Canadian, and international artists, and by engaging the community in the celebration of dance. DanceVictoria.com
Media Materials
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Media Contact
Tracy Smith
Marketing Manager, Dance Victoria
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250-595-1829