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Akhnaten

Mona Day Opera, See, stage, Theater

LA Opera’s 40th Anniversary Season will bring a revival of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten for  six performances February 28 through March 22.

The  opera is the last of composer Philip Glass’s portrait trilogy examining consequential figures in science (Einstein in Einstein on the Beach), politics (Gandhi in Satyagraha) and religion (the Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaten).  Glass describes this an opera about ‘religion, orthodoxy and reaction’.  

A co-production of LA Opera and English National Opera, its story is set in Ancient Egypt where the titular Akhnaten, a doomed visionary with plans to abandon the old gods and lead Egypt into a new age. His feats and foibles put his life in peril.  

Glass’s music has permeated modern culture from New York City Ballet to  Netflix’s Stranger Things.  Its most notable feature is an infinite ritualistic repetition which admirers find hypnotic transcendence as well as a test of endurance.  

The opera is sung in English, ancient  Hebrew and Akkadian. The libretto draws upon ancient texts like The Book of the Dead, ancient hymns, prayers, letters and inscriptions.  Highlights are the funeral music of Act I and the Hymn to Sun in Act II.

The spectacular production is visually arresting, featuring towering sets and costumes with animal heads, exotic plumes and intricate beadwork.  It is replete with soaring acrobats and astonishing juggling acts that pay homage to the earliest known record of juggling found in a four thousand year-old mural in an Egyptian cemetery complex.  Anthropologists think that the tomb depiction may be an analogy between balls and circular mirrors as representation of solar objects, birth and death.  The show’s choreographer, however, leaves its role as deliberately undefined: the objects can be alter egos to the characters’ ideas, miniature globular deities, bouncing thoughts, or even desert sand.

Making her LA Opera debut is Finland’s Dalia Stasevska, principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The show is  approximately three hours, including two intermissions. Dr. Tiffany Kuo will present a pre-show talk in Stern Grand Hall one hour before every performance.

For more information and tickets, please visit LAOpera.org/Akhnaten.

DANCE CAMERA WEST

Mona Day art, celebration, Dance, Entertainment, Film, See

Dance Camera West will present the 2026 edition of its dance film festival on January 22-25, with events on January 22-24 anchoring at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz in West Los Angeles. 

Continuing the Festival  tradition of honoring a major dance figure, the Festival opens January 22, 7:30 pm with a  Gala Retrospective and Tribute to David Roussève.   The evening will screen four of his films –  Bittersweet,  Hold your Heads to the Sky, Two Seconds of Laughter and Chili Pepper followed by a moderated discussion and a gala reception.

Roussève’s three-decade career weaves  movement, text, and multimedia to probe identity, race, queerness, and resilience and has resonated across generations. His company, David Roussève/REALITY has performed to much nationally and internationally to wide acclaim. 

Preceding the main program will be Stories and Tales, a selection of five short dance films from the US and the UK telling stories and creating portraits through dance and film.

Next day January 23, 7:30PM will present Shorts, a selection of 13 short experimental dance films with  a Francophone focus from France, Québec, and Belgium, along with an international selection from Finland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, and Spain.

January 24, 2:00PM will Doc Day Afternoon with two films.  The first, Dance to the End celebrates dancer, choreographer, artist and writer Eileen Kramer who lived and travelled the world for 60 years and continued working after returning home at age 99. 

The second film Origins  is a cinematic odyssey into the heart and mind of world-renowned choreographer Alonzo King, offering an intimate look at his creative process and his profound belief in the limitless potential of the human spirit. 

Saturday, January 24, 2026, 7 pm  will present LA Pops Up at the  Colburn in Downtown LA.  The new project spearheaded by Hysterica Productions and Dance Camera West celebrates a vibrant mix of styles spanning contemporary, hip-hop, poppin’, jazz, and more.   The screening will be followed by a filmmaker discussion.

Sunday, January 25, 2026 1:00 pm will present Experimental Experts at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz.   The afternoon will feature Embodied Filmmaking with Karen Pearlman,  a screening of six films by Shirley Clarke.  The book launch and discussion celebrates the publication of Shirley Clarke: Thinking Through Movement.   

The workshop will audience to participate in a series of exercises designed to develop concepts, images, sounds, movement motifs, structures, and rhythms for new screen dance works. 

 LA Art Show

Mona Day art, art, See

The LA Art Show,  LA’s largest and longest-running fair, The LA Art Show, returns to the LA Convention Center for its 31st edition  January 7 – 11.  Led by director and producer Kassandra Voyagis, it will feature over 90 exhibitors from around the world. 

This year’s edition features international highlights include Ireland’s first time participation with Dublin’s Oliver Sears Gallery and Palm Beach’s Provident Fine Art with a solo presentation of Sylvester Stallone’s abstract works. 

Highlighting the intersection of music and contemporary art, this year’s fair will feature works by two notable British musicians: Paul Simonon of The Clash and Chris Rivers of Heaven’s Basement. 

In another first, Art of Contemporary Africa is presenting works from Dr Esther Mahlangu, a contemporary artist whose 8 decades of art has made her a beloved cultural ambassador of the Ndebele nation. 

Other notable exhibitions include the first public showing in over four decades of Karl A. Meyer’s 1980s woodcut prints at Switzerland’s LICHT FELD Gallery, and cinematic figurative works by Israeli artist Yigal Ozeri presented by Corridor Contemporary. A strong Korean presence continues with J&J Art’s “Elegant Freedom” by Jinny Suh, whose Hanji-based works reinterpret Korean tradition through a contemporary lens.

The fair will debut its new Latin American Pavilion curated by Marisa Caichiolo-who was recently selected to co-curate Chile’s pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Centered on themes of memory, migration and identity, the pavilion explores representation, provenance and the evolving trajectory of Latin American art.  The Pavillion is a timely reminder of the challenges posed by immigration issues for Latin American communities and their artists. 

The fair’s signature non-commercial platform, DIVERSEartLA curated by Marisa Caichiolo returns with the theme The Biennials, Art Institutions and Museums in the Contemporary Art Ecosystem exploring the evolution of contemporary art through global biennials and museums, and how the two  complement and challenge one another. The platform highlights their shared roles in artistic innovation, public engagement, and cultural dialogue.

The American Heart Association is again the charity beneficiary, receiving 15% of proceeds from every ticket sold for their Life is Why ™ campaign. 

For more information and tickets, please visit www.laartshow.com

Camille A. Brown & Dancers

Mona Day Dance, stage, Theater

The 2025 – 2026 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance with the Music Center kicks off  with Five-time Tony® Award-nominated director and choreographer Camille A. Brown’s West Coast premiere of I AM at the Ahmanson Theatre for three performances only:  7:30pm on evenings of Friday  9/12, and Saturday  9/13, and a Sunday 2pm matinee on  9/14.  The company is  known for blending visceral movement into stories and inviting socio-political dialogue about race, culture, and identity. 

Drawing inspiration from a narrative within HBO’s Lovecraft Country and the pulse of the film Drumline, the work features original live music, interweaving of African diasporic dance ranging from Modern, Hip hop, African, Ballet, and Tap to tell stories that connect history with contemporary culture. Strongly character-based, it expresses each topic by building from little movie-like moments that blend theater, poetry, visual art, and music of all genres into powerful storytelling and celebration of cultural identity, joy and resilience.   

Founded in 2006, the CBDC company has performed at major national and international venues, including The Joyce Theater, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, American Dance Festival,  New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival, Celebrate Brooklyn. In 2014, CABD received the Bessie Award for Outstanding Production for “Mr. TOL E. RAncE.”

The Music Center’s 2025/2026 Dance Season is Dedicated to the Memory of Glorya Kaufman.

For more information and tickets, please visit https://www.musiccenter.org/

SWAN LAKE

Mona Day Dance, See, stage, Theater

The 22nd season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center will conclude its 2024-2025 season with one of the most recognized pieces in the classical canon – the iconic Swan Lake.  The performance by Boston Ballet June 26–29 marks  the company’s  long-awaited debut at the Music Center.

Swan Lake tells the story of Princess Odette, who is cursed by the sorcerer Von Rothbart to be a swan during the day and a woman at night, and only true love can break the spell.  Prince Siegfried, captivated by her beauty, pledges his eternal love, but the sorcerer tricks Siegfried into breaking his vow leading to her tragic fate by conjuring an illusion of Odette. 


This timeless story of love, betrayal, deceit and sacrifice in a world of sorcery and romance is set to Tchaikovsky’s soaring score. The second act, originally choreographed by Lev Ivanov, is widely considered one of the finest pieces of classical choreography ever created for the corps de ballet.  

Boston Ballet’s artistic director Mikko Nissinen and the company’s adaption of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece dazzles with stunning audiovisuals highlighting  Robert Perdziola’s impeccable set and costume designs, and amplifying the emotional rendering and technical precision of the company’s dancers. The performance will be accompanied by a live orchestra conducted by Boston Ballet music director Mischa Santora. 

Boston Ballet’s has been performing to international acclaim since 1963 and has cultivated a compelling and dynamic collection of classical, neo-classical and contemporary repertoire.  

Artistic director Mikko Nissinen has been defining the company’s image since 2001.  Born in Finland, Nissinen trained at The Finnish National Ballet School in Helsinki and the Kirov Ballet School. He danced professionally with The Finnish National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet and San Francisco Ballet where he was a principal dancer for a decade. Nissinen is committed to developing the art form and the future of dance and actively promotes progressive new works and creations.

Boston Ballet’s Los Angeles stop will extend its visit beyond the Music Center stage to lead  a free outdoor movement workshop on Saturday, June 28, 10:00 a.m.–11:00 am, on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center on Saturday June 28, 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m. Taught by two of the company’s artists, Associate Director of Boston Ballet Joan Boada and Principal Dancer Chyrstyn Mariah Fentroy, the free special workshop ‘Plié & Play: A Swan Lake–Inspired Movement Workshop’ is open to the public and will explore the elegance and expression of ballet and the joy of movement in a fun, accessible way. No dance experience or special attire is needed; participants of all ages are encouraged to wear comfortable clothes and be ready to move. For more information and tickets, please visit musiccenter.org/bostonballet or call (213) 972-0711.

Grupo Corpo:  A Thrill From Brazil

Mona Day Dance, See, stage

Leading Brazilian dance company Grupo Corpo will return to LA Performing Arts Center after 14 years for three performances May 2–4.The company whose name means ‘body group’ in Portuguese will present  two works 21 and Gira which blend classical ballet, folk traditions and bold choreography. 

The program opens with Pederneiras’ 1992  groundbreaking work 21, a ballet divided into three movements that weave the company’s 22 dancers into rhythmic and timbral combinations of the number 21. Featuring a score by Marco Antônio Guimarães, the choreography moves with precision with a series of mesmerizing movements that blend the energy of Brazilian folk dances with the formality of classical ballet. The 40-minute piece amplifies the unique sounds of Guimarães’ unusual instrumental composition which culminates in a colorful, dynamic finale.

 
For Gira Pederneiras immersed himself in the history and practices of Brazil’s Afro-Brazilian religions, particularly Umbanda, transforming the characteristic the powerful gestures of Umbanda and Candomblé ceremonies nto a universal human expression.  His choreography reconstructs the powerful gestures captures trance-like turning and movements as well as the raw and dizzying energy of their sacred rites. Set to eleven musical themes created specially for the company by Brazilian fusion group Metá Metá, Gira becomes a mesmerizing 40-minute piece of primal, ritualistic energy. 

Artistic director Paulo Pederneiras founded the company in 1975 recruiting his siblings who included choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras.  Grupo Corpo went on to become the resident dance company of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, France from 1996–1999, and today, with over 40 works in its repertoire, the company has gained international acclaim for disciplined dancing by virtuoso dancers who seamlessly integrate disparate influences.

For more information and tickets, please visit  musiccenter.org/grupocorpo or call (213) 972-0711.

Ainadamar

Mona Day Opera, See, stage

LA Opera will present the company premiere of Ainadamar April 26 through May 18. 

The show recounts the fateful final days of poet and playwright Federico García Lorca who was executed during the Spanish Civil War at a natural spring in the hills above the Spanish city of Granada known as Aynadamar, Arabic for fountain of tears. 

Recounting the poet’s life is Margarita Xirgu, a veteran Spanish actress and Lorca’s muse who spent her career portraying Mariana Pineda in Lorca’s play.  Pineda was a 19th-century political martyr executed by the absolutist Spanish regime for sewing a revolutionary flag with the embroidered slogan “Equality, Freedom and Law.  Lorca  could see her statue from the window of his family home in Granada and grew to idolize her.  Evoking the vibrant colors and poetry of Andalusia and especially Lorca’s hometown Granada, the play was Lorca’s first theatrical success. He asked Xirgu to play the title role at its premiere in June 1927 at the Teatre Goya in Barcelona with scenic design and costumes by Salvador Dalí.

Xirgu fled Spain at the beginning of the Civil War but was unable to persuade Lorca to leave as well. His liberal beliefs and open homosexuality subsequently led to his death at the hands of the Falange, the fascist party founded by the son of former Spanish dictator General Primo de Rivera. Xirgu continued to play Mariana Pineda, keeping Lorca’s work alive.  The opera is based on Xirgu’s memories in a series of flashbacks as she prepares  to go on stage as Mariana Pineda.  

The opera opens with a group of young actresses singing the opening ballad and Xirgu remembers Lorca’s brilliance as she tells her young student Nuria of meeting Lorca for the first time in a Madrid bar where he first described his play to her. The flashback is interrupted by a broadcast over the state radio by the Falangist Ramón Ruiz Alonso that his party will stamp out the beginnings of the revolution.  With the launch of the Spanish Civil War, Xirgu pleads with Lorca to join her and her theatre company in Cuba, but he is adamant about staying on in Granada. Xirgu blames herself for not being able to persuade the idealistic Lorca to abandon Spain and save himself.  As she sings of her dreams of finding freedom in Cuba, Lorca insists that he must witness and write about his country’s suffering.

As Xirgu is dying, she performs Pineda’s story for the last time, telling Nuria that though the actor acts only for a moment, but the larger idea of freedom transcends that. A vision of Lorca interrupts her, thanking her for immortalizing his spirit on stage, in the hearts of her students, and the world. 

Led by Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados, the production features a dramatic, flamenco-inspired score by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov and a poignant libretto by David Henry Hwang. Staged by director Deborah Colker, the production has  won acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera and Detroit Opera.

Ana María Martínez (currently appearing as Despina in LAO’s Così fan tutte) returns to take center stage as Lorca’s muse, Margarita Xirgu. 

Since its 2003 world premiere, Ainadamar has become one of the most frequently performed operas of the 21st century, seen throughout Europe, North America and South America. Although it is an LA Opera company premiere, the opera has even been performed extensively locally in LA by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2004, Long Beach Opera in 2012 and USC Thornton Opera in 2016, and so should be familiar to local audience.

Ainadamar is sung in Spanish with both English and Spanish supertitles. 

Special Events planned around the opera include  a Celebración de las Artes hosted by LA Opera Connects and Hispanics for LA Opera after the May 4 matinee, with  music, food and fun for all on the Music Center’s Jerry Moss Plaza.

The May 7 performance will mark Pride Night, with a special post-performance gathering for attendees. 

For more information and tickets, please visit LAOpera.org/Ainadamar.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Mona Day Dance, See, stage

Dance at The Music Center will present an impressive five-day seven-performance engagement with the acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater April 2–6.  Led by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, it celebrates the legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison’s 2024 passing with LA premieres, new productions, repertory favorites and Ailey classics.

The first program (Program A) features the L.A. premieres of Sacred Songs (2024) choreographed by Los Angeles native Matthew Rushing; Many Angels (2024) choreographed by Lar Lubovitch; and a restaging of Treading (1979) choreographed by Elisa Monte. Program A will be performed on the evenings of April 2, 4 and 6 and a matinee on April 5.

The second program (Program B) includes a new production of Ailey favorites: Grace (1999) choreographed by Ronald K. Brown; Ailey Excerpts choreographed by Alvin Ailey from his Pas De Duke (1976), Masekela Langage (1969), Opus McShann (1988), Love Songs (1972) and For ‘Bird’ – With Love (1984); and Cry (1971), a tribute to Judith Jamison choreographed by Alvin Ailey. Program B will be performed on the evenings of April 3 and 5 and a matinee on April 6.

Both programs will conclude with the company’s signature masterpiece Revelations which continues to lift audiences with its grace and spiritual elation.

The L.A. premiere of Sacred Songs, created by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, features music used in the original 1960 premiere of Revelations but later omitted in its current version.  The  stirring piece resurrects the spirituals as an offering to audiences’ present need for lamentation, faith and joy. 

Many Angels features Lar Lubovitch’s lush choreography for Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, inspired by the question posed by 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”  The question is not about factual truth, but faith. 


In Elisa Monte’s Treading, two dancers come together in fluid, intricate movements that combine with Steve Reich’s meditative music to create  mystery and sensuality.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Ronald K. Brown’s spellbinding Grace is set to Duke Ellington’s classic Come Sunday, Peven Everett’s hit Gabriel and Fela Kuti’s afro-pop music. Grace depicts individuals on a journey to the promised land, expanding from a single angel-like figure in white to the fireball intensity of 12 powerful dancers. The piece connects the  secular and sacred in a fusion of African and American dance.

The 16-minute solo Cry was an immediate sensation at its 1971 New York City Center premiere, propelling Ailey’s muse Judith Jamison to international stardom and later to become the company’s artistic director.  Here she represents the trials and tribulations of Black women’s African origins and their joyful triumph over hardships. In a tribute to Jamison, there will be performances of the finale of Cry set to the Voices of East Harlem singing Right On, Be Free.

Revelations is an intimate reflection of Mr. Ailey’s childhood memories of growing up in the South and attending services at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Texas and pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of the African American community. Since its debut in 1960, it has been moving audiences with its powerful storytelling and soul-stirring music evoking themes of determination, hope and transcendence as it explores the emotional spectrum of the human condition.