Free Dance Performances and Workshops Kick Off June 18 at Santa Monica State Beach

May 16, 2019 11:03 AM

Image: Sarah Elgart / Arrogant Elbow and company rehearsing during Beach Dances, featuring Alexandria Diaz de Fato, Jonathan Stanley, Sam McReynolds and Genna Moroni, 2018. Photo by Jason Abraham.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Santa Monica Cultural Affairs announces the return of Beach Dances, featuring a week of local choreographers rehearsing and engaging the public on a sand-level platform at the Annenberg Community Beach House from Tuesday, June 18 through Sunday, June 23. This year’s program is titled Beach Dances: Shared Practice and was curated by Allison Wyper with Rhizomatic Arts. All are invited to free open rehearsals, performances and participatory movement workshops. 

Participating Artists:  

In addition to daily rehearsals, Rhizomatic Arts will host a picnic hangout for artists and allies, followed by a performance featuring short works that have been rehearsed throughout the week on Saturday June 22, 6:30 – 8 p.m. Audiences are welcome to watch an improvisational encounter featuring selected choreographers, performance artists and dancers, taking place Sunday, June 23 between 5 – 7 p.m. Free workshops based in diverse movement practices including Cumbia, Flamenco, New Orleans Bounce and Yoga will be offered throughout the week.   

“Choreographers use dance to practice their cultural identities and relationships to place and environment, to heal generational trauma, and practice inherited traditional ways of being in the world and to invent new ones,” said curator Allison Wyper. “Dance practice is community practice; all are welcome to view and engage.”

“The times that I have danced and created in public space have been very profound,” said choreographer Christine Suarez. “It’s a rich exchange that opens me up in a way that I can’t find when I’m in a studio.” 

For more information about rehearsals, workshops and performances, visit santamonica.gov/beachdances.

This  program is part of the Beach=Culture series, presented by Santa Monica Cultural Affairs at the Annenberg Community Beach House. 

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Miranda Iglesias
Public Information Coordinator
Miranda.Iglesias@SMGOV.NET