Grad students combine energy, intellect in “˜Ajar’

Although studying dance at UCLA may not prepare you for a
Britney Spears video, the latest work in the MFA choreography
program’s “Upstarts Series” proves that
it’s not just about theory, either.

Directed, choreographed, and produced by World Arts and Cultures
graduate students Erica Rebollar and Anjali Tata,
“Ajar” opens Thursday at Highways Performance Space in
Santa Monica. The performance represents three years of graduate
study in an attempt to combine art, academics and real life into
live performance.

Composed of two segments, one by each choreographer, the work
comments on the effects of contemporary American society on
individuals and the ways people respond to a hectic, conflicted,
material world.

Both women came to UCLA as established, working artists. Tata is
a respected classical Indian dancer (Bharata Natyam form) and
teacher while Rebollar is an award-winning contemporary dancer and
choreographer. They also share similar philosophies on creating
dance in the department’s theory-driven academic
environment.

“I think that the difficult thing is to try to put the
kinesthetic and the visceral and the sweat with intellectualism
““ the academic, “˜brained-approach’ with the
instinct approach,” Rebollar said. “You have to be
objective about your instinct and be able to describe it
intellectually.”

For Tata, that dichotomy has led her beyond the boundaries of
classical Indian training. Combining modern dance and yoga with
Bharata Natyam in “Ajar,” she examines Eastern
spirituality in the context of the New Age subculture. It’s a
risky blend of forms and ideas that could distance her from the
traditional Indian community. Sometimes, she says, “If
it’s too abstract, they don’t get it.”

While trying to incorporate critical theories such as
postmodernism into their choreography, Tata and Rebollar hope to
create work with themes that will ultimately appeal to a larger
audience. Instead of promoting dance as an elitist art form, they
believe they have something fundamentally universal to offer.

“It’s giving the audience your energy, it’s as
simple as that.” Rebollar said. “Beyond the academic,
beyond the bubble of UCLA, that’s what people need. They go
to work nine-to-five and they come home tired. They don’t
need someone intellectualizing about orientalism.”

Rebollar’s section in “Ajar” explores the
strain of a multitasking world on the minds and bodies of
individuals. The dance deals with issues like addiction, isolation
and the trauma of world events.

The process of getting their work to the stage has been no less
of an education than their classes. The department encourages
graduate students to experience the real-life difficulties of
putting together a performance, dealing with budgets, scheduling
and publicity as well as choreography and direction. The department
intends not only to teach them how to cope with problems that
arise, but also to give them the skills to prevent the same
problems from happening in the future.

The whole experience has made the two women think about what it
is they’re trying to accomplish as choreographers, and what
it means to create dance in an academic setting.

“Sometimes there’s a danger, if you become so
cerebral, the art becomes something else,” said Tata.
“Trying to blend the two, that’s where the talent
is.”

Performances run Nov. 21-23 at 8:30 p.m. in Highways Performance
Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. Tickets are $15 general, $13
for students. For reservations, call (310) 315-1459.

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