CONTRA-TIEMPO is the National Touring Professional Dance Company is Group to Watch

Critically-acclaimed, nationally touring professional dance company positions itself as the group to watch in 2011 and beyond
By: Julio Trejo
 
July 21, 2011 - PRLog -- Leading national nonprofit, activist-driven, professional dance company, CONTRA-TIEMPO is proving to be a major artistic force.  In six short years, it has been hailed by critics and audiences alike for their successful performances throughout North America and the Caribbean.  The company is unique in its approach to dance and overall artistic expression by fusing Salsa, Afro-Cuban, Hip-Hop, and abstract dance-theater, to create an invigorating blend of physically intense and politically astute performances. The company has several large-scale performance works as well as community arts workshops for adults and young people that have been and continue to be presented in and around Los Angeles, the U.S. and abroad. Their unique “Urban Latin Dance Theater” brings to life voices that are not traditionally heard on the concert stage. CONTRA-TIEMPO’s amazing works have been showcased at the most prestigious cultural arts complexes in the country, including Lincoln Center. Audiences in California, New York, Washington D.C., North Carolina, Georgia, Washington State, Arizona, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and most recently Cuba have experienced the wonderment only a group like CONTRA-TIEMPO can deliver.
While their performances are consistently electrifying, what sets the company apart is its unique relationship to its own community.  In addition to its national reach, CONTRA-TIEMPO continues its mission of maintaining a strong connection on a local, grass roots level through the development of specialized arts curriculums designed for their underserved students in Los Angeles and New York. The company members, professional dancers, and artists may come from different walks of life, but hold they share a vision in common. Many are immigrants, teachers, activists, organizers and movers of all types living and working in Los Angeles. Each member lives and struggles within the varied and infinitely complex political and personal landscapes that founding artistic director, Ana Maria Alvarez and her company address in their work. Their tireless efforts with young people through workshops address social, political and race issues through movement and traditional cultural dance forms. “Our mission is to transform the world through dance - to represent the voices that aren't traditionally heard on the concert stage - not only are we doing that but are doing it in some of the most amazing stages in the world ,” describes Ana Maria Alvarez.

CONTRA-TIEMPO is also gearing up for the world premiere of its highly anticipated production, Full Still Hungry, on September 23 at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles. The new work explores the politics of food in our culture. Ana Maria Alvarez explains, “Food is not just the material I put in my body to sustain life, it is a web of relationships, histories, choices and decisions that all impact the world around us.” Full Still Hungry is a full-evening journey for 12 dancers set to an original score by Cesar Alvarez (co-founding composer), and prominent Latin percussionist, Bobby Matos. Through live music, sensuous, connected movement and the use of food in imagery, poetry and references throughout, Full Still Hungry is a delicious journey that explores the parallel ways we are nourished and we blindly consume. The production is supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation. For more information and tickets for Full Still Hungry, please visit http://fordtheatres.org/en/events/details/id/236.

For more information on CONTRA-TIEMPO dance company, please visit http://contra-tiempo.org/.
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Source:Julio Trejo
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Tags:Dance, Arts, Performance, Community, Non-profit, All Ages
Industry:Arts, Entertainment, Lifestyle
Location:United States
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