Hello there. Did you see LA Contemporary Dance Company Presents PORT: LA/SF last week at the Los Angeles Theater Center in Downtown LA? If not, it was a wonderful evening of mixed work from San Francisco-based company FACT/SF and Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company.

Artists of FACT/SF.  Photo Credit Gema Galina — Artists of FACT/SF. Photo Credit Gema Galina

If you haven’t heard of FACT/SF, it’s a contemporary dance company founded by Charles Slender-White in 2008. Keep this company on your radar, folks. His work is very unique and its not like anything out there on the dance circuit now. Slender-White’s work is very unique, experimental and well thought-out. As seen in his Los Angeles premiere of Remains, his use of props, puppets and creative ways of using lighting design on each individual dancer fit so well with the thought provoking content of the dark yet beautiful work. What I especially liked about Slender-White’s choreography is his simple use of movement gestures and his intentional choreography of the dancer/performers head. Its such a small detail to place an emphasis on movement of the head and Slender-White did it so effectively in both Remains and in excerpts from Platform; the third performance on the bill for the evening. Speaking of Platform, the excerpt truly showcased his artistic talent and I DEFINITELY wanted to see the entire piece! Charles himself along with Liane Burns proved their technical capabilities with synchronization. Both music choices in Charles’ work kept me fully engaged too. The only question I had after seeing Platform was about the choreography of the work. Did he do the sole choreography or was it a collaborative effort with additional dancers? The Program Notes weren’t clear.

Artists of LACDC.  Photo Credit Gema Galina — Artists of LACDC. Photo Credit Gema Galina

LACDC both opened and closed PORT: LA/SF. With the opening excerpts from Stimulaze and the closing Nomad.Lore World Premiere, we got to see the range of work this company has in its repertoire. In one evening LACDC gave us Melancholy and Ultra Pop Contemporary dance work. Costuming was very basic in Stimulaze and flashy in the second piece. LACDC is a staple in the SoCal Dance community because the artists can execute a wide array of work. I believe LA dance patrons appreciate LADCs work in that it is both rarefied and accessible.

Kudos to PORT for exposing LA dance audiences to Bay area artists. When do we get to see more again?

PORT (Peer Organized Regional Touring) was born out of 2 years of discussion between the two companies (Fact/SF and LACDC), seeking to remove the economic and logistical obstacles that prohibit cross-regional collaboration. PORT better connects our regions, exposes audiences to an expanded palate of contemporary dance, and creates opportunities for the artists of San Francisco and Los Angeles to learn from and exchange with each other.

L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) is a non-profit repertory dance company that offers Los Angeles professional and innovative dance experiences throughout the year. LACDC performs a diverse repertoire of contemporary and cutting edge work representative of L.A.’s vibrant culture. By affording choreographers and dancers the opportunity to create concert length work in an experimental and collaborative environment, LACDC strives to foster the development of new forms in the contemporary dance genre relevant to today’s audiences. www.lacontemporarydance.org

FACT/SF is a San Francisco-based contemporary dance company, founded in 2008 by Artistic Director Charles Slender-White as a platform for organizing collaborators, building community, and creating choreography. FACT/SF regularly performs in the San Francisco Bay Area, maintains a core group of local collaborators, and has developed an extensive international network of colleagues and partners. In addition to presenting the works of Slender-White, FACT/SF supports and engages with the field through three programs: JuMP, PORT, and the annual FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab.