CalArts Dance x LADP Present Open Ears: Luminous Bodies and Creative Listening

CalArts Dance and LAPD collaborate to present an afternoon of improvised movement and music.

On Saturday Feb. 23, CalArts Dance and the LA Dance Project (LADP) team up to present Open Ears: Luminous Bodies and Creative Listening, an afternoon of dance improvisation and live music in Los Angeles.

Hosted by Rosanna Gamson and David Rosenboom, the event is open to the public and participation is welcomed from dancers and movers of all abilities. Gamson, assistant dean of The Sharon Lund Disney School of Dance at CalArts and Rosenboom, dean of The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts, bring their separate investigations of neuroscience and creativity to the workshop to explore new territories of sound and movement. 

At CalArts, Gamson teaches composition and also serves as the Program Director of the MFA in Choreography. Gamson has created 11 evening-length dance theater works as founding Artistic Director of Rosanna Gamson/World Wide (RGWW). Her continuing investigation of improvisation and group-authored performance practices has developed into GO, a series of games and exercises which she began teaching internationally in 2017. She has served as dramaturge, mentor and consigliere to both young and established choreographers and directors, and actively supports the development of Los Angeles dance through her Terra Nova Choreographic Residency program.

Rosenboom, a composer, performer, educator and a pioneer of experimental music, has been dean of The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts since 1990, and he also holds the school’s Richard Seaver Distinguished Chair in Music position. His work explores ideas about the spontaneous evolution of musical forms, languages for improvisation, new techniques in scoring for ensembles, multidisciplinary composition and performance, and cross-cultural collaborations. In 2015, he performed as part of a 50-year retrospective at the Whitney Museum titled Propositional Music, for which The New York Times applauded him as an “avatar of experimentalism.”

Open Ears takes place at the LA Dance Project space in the Arts District. The LADP, founded by choreographer, filmmaker and former professional dancer Benjamin Millepied, is a platform for the development, creation, support and presentation of world-class dance in Los Angeles. Comprised of an acclaimed dance company, a physical performance space, and a program of media initiatives, LADP seeks to foster dance-centered artistic collaborations across disciplines and cultures.

Doors to the event open at 4:15 pm and tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.