CalArtians Featured in Immersive Dance Theater Performance The Other Side

Photo by: George Simian

Choreographer Sophia Stoller’s (Dance MFA 15) The Other Side receives a world premiere on this Friday (May 5) at Gramercy Studios in Los Angeles. The performance, which features work by over a dozen CalArts alumni and faculty, is a fully immersive dance experience that blends psychological research and political commentary through dance, theater, video and an original musical score.

Members of the audience are brought into a space that has been transformed into an unconventional laboratory where performances based on social science experiments from the ’60s and ’70s unfold. While The Other Side uses historical references such as The Stanford Prison Experiment and Milgram’s shock experiment, the overriding political themes of the performance are shaped by the dramatic shifts in America as a result of the 2016 presidential election.

The Other Side features works and performances by the following CalArts alumni and faculty: Cynn Marie (BFA Dance 16), Bryanna Brock (BFA Dance 16), Joan Holly Padeo (BFA Dance 16), Shane Raiford (BFA Dance 12), Keith Skretch (MFA Theater 12), Justin Scheid (MFA Music 15), Mark Kanieff (MFA Theater 15), Lena Sands (MFA Theater 15), Chu-Hsuan Chang (MFA Theater 15), Jenny Greer (MFA Theater 11) and School of Theater faculty Anthony Nikolchev and Brian Carbine (MFA Theater 16).

Stoller has presented choreography in festivals and venues locally and internationally, and has choreographed numerous projects for the camera. She is a long-time faculty member of The Gabriella Foundation, a program that offers dance classes to low-income youth in Los Angeles. A portion of the proceeds from The Other Side will benefit The Gabriella Foundation’s everybody dance! program. Tickets can be purchased online through Stoller’s website.

Performances of The Other Side are ongoing through May 13.