Free Dance Performances, Workshops At Santa Monica State Beach

From Santa Monica Cultural Affairs: 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:

· Heyward Bracey & Nguyen Nguyen

· Paola Escobar

· Maya Gingery

· Rebeca Hernandez

· DaEun Jung

· Shaina Lynn and Isabel Ivey

· Carol McDowell

· Alexx Shilling

· Christine Suarez

· Encounter (organized by Mariel Carranza)

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.”