Peter Strauss Ranch to Host Site Specific Dance Performance
By: A.A. Cristi
Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre has partnered with visual artist Kim West and experimental musician Davy Sumner to create a unique, site-specific dance performance at the Peter Strauss Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains. Lake Enchanto will take place on Saturday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free (donations accepted).
West's "Lake Enchanto" installation, which includes a 115-foot mural, opened at the Ranch on May 13 and will run through September. During the performance, Duckler's dancers will permanently transform pieces of the installation while activating different parts of the site at sunset. An original composition by Sumner that manipulates and exploits the location's natural sounds to create an aural piece entirely unique to Peter Strauss Ranch will accompany the dancers. As the sun dips below the trees, shadows elongate. When vintage bathing suit-clad dancers propel through the space, for a moment it ceases to be 2017. Then the ritual begins, and into the "lake" the dancers go, dragging with them their memories, and, literally, setting them ablaze. Audience members will have an opportunity to explore the grounds of the ranch before or after the performance. Founded in 1985 by choreographer Heidi Duckler, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre has created memorable dance experiences in extraordinary locations for three decades. Called the "reigning queen of site specific performance" by the Los Angeles Times, Duckler is dedicated to building audiences for the arts, especially in underserved communities. HDDT creates contemporary art experiences in nontraditional places and learning opportunities in diverse neighborhoods that redefine the relationship between audience and art through the cultivation of innovative partnerships. Duckler has created more than 200 dance pieces all over the world. Awards include a City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs COLA Award, California Arts Council Choreography Fellowship and National Endowment of the Arts American Masterpiece award.
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