Every now and then a routine trip to the mall will yield a most extraordinary find. Sometimes, that find is so out-of-the-ordinary, you can’t even carry it in a shopping bag.
Today at 7+FIG, the three-story, open-air shopping complex at 7th Street and Figueroa Street, downtown shoppers, art enthusiasts and passers-by will be given two opportunities, at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., to catch “A Material World,” the latest work by Collage Dance Theatre, a locally-based, non-profit dance theater company.
Performances are open to the general public free of charge, and if you’ve strolled through 7+FIG anytime in the past seven weeks, chances are you’ve already been treated to a slice of the show. That’s because in a non-profit and corporate partnership that only sounds incongruent, Collage Dance accepted a commission by Brookfield Properties, owner of 7+FIG, to engage in a seven-week residency where dancers rehearsed regularly on-site.
“It’s a wonderful relationship that doesn’t usually occur,” said Liliane Ribeiro, art administrator of Collage Dance Theatre. Ribeiro believes it has given the public an opportunity to see the work grow and evolve.
Brookfield’s 7+FIG Art Space primarily houses visual artists in its designated display space, but this performance makes use of the entire shopping center.
“I think (Brookfield Properties) are trying something very new,” said Heidi Duckler, the artistic director of Collage Dance Theatre who also conceived and choreographed the show. “They’re infusing the business with animating their properties in a way that’s beautiful and thought-provoking. That really sets it apart from the typical kind of corporation that we sometimes think of.”
Founded by Duckler in 1987, Collage Dance Theatre performed its early works on the stage and now specializes in “site-specific” performances. Duckler attributes this “natural progression” to her interest in the visual art world and refers to work that uses a site as its context.
“Usually the site has and is part of the concept and design of the dance, so that there’s a planning space,” she said. “We mine it for its history, or its political content, or (it’s) cultural connection to a community ““ there are all kinds of ways in which an environment can be used.”
With a “tongue-in-cheek” title taken from Madonna’s signature hit song “Material Girl,” the work predictably addresses the reality of the site as a commercial venue. But according to Duckler, it also takes into consideration the particular architecture of 7+FIG.
“We thought of the architecture as a very hard and tangible structure, very masculine,” Duckler said, in reference to herself and collaborator visual artist H.K. Zamani. “What if we thought about it as a very fluid environment, very soft and very fluid … that could be indicative of a flexible future.”
The 200-foot blue fabric maneuvered by the dancers throughout the performance is a symbol of the Los Angeles River, which used to flow through Figueroa Street, re-configuring the streets and pathways as waterways.
This water imagery, according to Daniel Rosenboom, composer of the work and a doctorate candidate at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, is also reflected in the musical score. The score features a final section of a recorded electronic track, as well as a written and improvised solo trumpet and some violin, to be performed live by Rosenboom and dancer Ariadna Rodriguez.
Rosenboom recalled his own impression of the fabric as often separating a pair of dancers by casting a physical barrier between them while they still interacted, as if in forbidden love.
“The music sounds very lyrical at times ““ very soulful, with a bit of detachment and a bit of longing, sort of very mournful,” he said. “I’m exploring a lot of modes from Eastern European gypsy music. It has a longing feeling to a lot of it.”
Fluidity and flexibility can also factor into interpretation. Ribeiro and Duckler saw the piece more optimistically, as representing hope for a future defined by openness and choice.
“I think it has multiple meanings. But I think that the juxtaposition of the fluid of the fabric in an environment that is very goal-oriented makes for an interesting contrast,” Duckler said.
“It’s about the juxtaposition of a really avant-garde example of art in a totally consumerist context,” Rosenboom said. “I hope that the audience is kind of shocked in a way … how this beautiful thing is happening in this austere place.”
Such indefinite, open-ended art demands interpretation, and Duckler hopes for a diverse mix of minds come performance time, ranging from employees of the shopping center, to followers of the company, to the city’s art lovers.
“It’s all about people experiencing it,” Ribeiro said. “It’s something extremely unique … a one-time thing. If we were to replicate it somewhere else, it would never be the same.”
Good walking shoes are advised, as the performers will require audience members to follow them as they navigate throughout the three-level complex.
“The audience really travels with the project,” Duckler said. “I think they’ll feel the sense of movement and momentum, and that will be an unusual experience for them.”
And if the audience strays?
“This is the kind of performance where the audience makes certain choices,” she said. “There’s this flexibility that’s built into it.”