The cast of “Invisible Cities” rehearses at Union Station. Photo courtesy of The Industry.
A tall, slim dancer commands the attention of everyone in his immediate area in the entrance of downtown LA’s Union Station. He’s rehearsing for Invisible Cities, an experimental opera collaboration between Yuval Sharon’s The Industry and Benjamin Millepied’s L.A. Dance Project, which premieres Saturday at the stroke of 7 pm.
Falling, sliding, lunging and flailing, the dancer executes large movements in a designated small space. Suddenly, another dancer gallops briskly by the first company member, hands flapping wildly, scratching his head and neck, keeping to his own rhythm. But he doesn’t stop. He heads out the main doors and into the night because, in fact, he is not a cast member. In retrospect, he was one of the eccentrics who frequent Union Station, one of the many characters who will make this innovative production even more interesting and challenging.
“From the beginning of the concept [of Invisible Cities], I wanted the piece to feel like an invisible layer of what is already among the reality of Union Station,” says Sharon, director of Invisible Cities and artistic director of The Industry, an LA-based nonprofit that aims to expand the traditional definition of opera and explore new paradigms for interdisciplinary collaboration. “The idea that there is a really eclectic, wild mix of personalities, characters, costumes, activities — that’s a major theme of the performance.”
Union Station is gorgeous to look at …
Read full article at LA Stage Times.
Jessica Koslow 