This dance troupe will perform for free at 9 SoCal landmarks, including LACMA and Hollywood Forever

A horde of dancers scatter beneath the vaulted belly of Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s precocious opened David Geffen Galleries. One dancer folds their body, dilatory easing their mode to the ground, portion the others watch. They’re stumbling done choreography, rehearsing and laughing with each misstep.

The clamor of visiting children echoes extracurricular the factual operation portion euphony plays deeper wrong the field wherever couples ballroom creation successful the sun.

Choreographer Madeline Hollander closes her reddish notebook and instructs the dancers to commencement from the beginning. Philip Glass’ people for the critically acclaimed non-narrative 1982 documentary movie “Koyaanisqatsi” plays arsenic the dancers initiate the archetypal moments of Hollander’s choreography successful the unfastened space. The children basal nearby, watching successful awe. Couples clasp hands and linger, pausing arsenic they recognize a show is underway. The dancers — present unified successful formations that softly bleed into 1 different similar clouds — request attention. LACMA’s campus, erstwhile filled with commotion, is present solely focused connected a rehearsal for the U.S. premiere of a region-wide bid of escaped nationalist performances successful landmark L.A. spaces called “City of Dance.”

Dancers from choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s L.A. Dance Project rehearse astatine LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries arsenic portion of a site-specific task called “City of Dance” that volition instrumentality spot implicit 2 weeks astatine assorted Southern California landmarks.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Co-presented by L.A. Dance Project and Paris Dance Project, the inaugural by choreographer and LADP co-founder Benjamin Millepied takes creation extracurricular of the theatre and brings it straight to the community. The enactment initially premiered successful Paris successful 2025, spreading crossed the French superior and 4 neighboring cities. The L.A. premiere, which began Tuesday, volition question to 9 notable Southern California locations including Century Park, Marciano Art Foundation, Grand Avenue (in collaboration with the Colburn School), Hollyhock House astatine Barnsdall Art Park, Tongva Park successful downtown Santa Monica, Stearns Wharf successful Santa Barbara, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Gloria Molina Grand Park, and, finally, LACMA.

The inaugural is arsenic ambitious successful the scope of its geography arsenic good arsenic successful its curation. The last portion incorporates the enactment of 5 choreographers — Millepied, Hollander, Dimitri Chamblas, Jamar Roberts and Pam Tanowitz — into 1 portion performed by 14 dancers and acceptable to Glass’ score.

“There are a batch of communities and radical who conscionable haven’t stepped ft into a theater, whether they don’t person the means oregon they don’t consciousness invited by the architecture,” Millepied said successful a caller interview. “What I emotion astir [‘City of Dance’] is you stumble upon thing wherever you’re connected adjacent footing with the dancer … there’s thing rather visceral astir watching different quality being creation close successful beforehand of you.”

Contributing choreographer Madeline Hollander takes a interruption from rehearsal for L.A. Dance Project’s site-specific work, “City of Dance.” Hollander is 1 of 5 participating choreographers for the piece.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

The locations were chosen for their ocular and symbolic importance. Chamblas shaped his publication based connected each location’s history, civilization and energy. Place tin dictate the consciousness of a peculiar action. For example, combat choreography mightiness look much playful successful a parkland than connected a stage. The mundane situation of each determination besides plays a ample relation successful however the portion is perceived. Music blasting from car windows and pets moving crossed the writer adhd layers of unpredictability.

“We privation the enactment to beryllium wrong the discourse of life,” Chamblas said.

The movie “Koyaanisqatsi,” directed by Godfrey Reggio, juxtaposes footage that centers connected the narration betwixt nature, humanity and exertion to picture industrialization and capitalism’s interaction connected the climate. Millepied archetypal saw the movie erstwhile helium was 18 and felt touched by it, recognizing its capableness to go a ballet. Over time, the thought organically evolved into “La Ville Dansée” / ”City of Dance.”

Since the movie chiefly features U.S. landscapes, some municipality and environmental, Millepied considers the project’s L.A. debut a homecoming.

“In a metropolis similar L.A., you’re successful this wholly insane sprawling metropolis that encompasses the American dream, Hollywood and its interaction connected the world,” helium said.

Dancers rehearse astatine LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries for a site-specific show portion called “City of Dance,” acceptable to Philip Glass’ people for the 1982 experimental documentary “Koyaanisqatsi.”

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

The title, “Koyaanisqatsi,” comes from the Hopi connection meaning “life retired of balance.” “City of Dance” brings this connection to the forefront done its prime of locations. LACMA, for example, represents creation past and community, and with its astir $724 cardinal expansion, besides becomes a awesome of capitalism. Throughout the tally of the project, prime performances volition beryllium followed by conversations connected urbanism and biology change.

Hollander is peculiarly funny successful bringing the connection of the enactment to carnivore erstwhile it comes to the existent ecological authorities of the city.

“L.A. is learning to beryllium a spot that needs to prolong itself retired of balance, successful particular, since the fires,” she said. “What does it mean to actively beryllium successful a clip of clime situation wherever determination are superstorms each 2 to 3 years alternatively of 100 years, and determination are fires continuously? And yet, we each person to proceed to flock unneurotic arsenic a community.”

The euphony of “Koyaanisqatsi” is divided into abstracted sections, with a choreographer assigned to each. Hollander’s conception highlights patterns by pulling inspiration from vertebrate and level formations to correspond communities coming together. This is successful stark opposition to Chamblas’ opening section, which is afloat of action, warring and collision. Despite having antithetic approaches to the score, each artist’s choreographic dependable flows seamlessly into the other. When assigning sections, Millepied utilized a curatorial oculus to springiness the choreographers portions of euphony helium knew they’d beryllium capable to experimentation with and marque the astir of.

“For me, determination was a crushed wherefore Pam got those 17 minutes and not Jamar, and wherefore Jamar got those minutes and not Dimitri, and wherefore Dimitri opened the piece,” helium said.

Hope Spears, left, and Omri Mishael creation arsenic portion of of a site-specific enactment called “City of Dance” being staged by L.A. Dance Project.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Each choreographer pulled ideas from the movie and people to trade the imagery of the creation piece. Chamblas recovered inspiration from footage of falling buildings and Union Station astatine unreserved hour. Meanwhile, Roberts turned to the score, discovering akin emotions of falling and demolition successful a fluctuating chorus. Much similar the film, the choreography juxtaposes joyousness with despair successful an ever-changing environment.

“It’s a compression of life, without transition, truthful you spell from warring to love, to forgetting, to dying, to rebirth,” Chamblas said.

This is not LADP’s archetypal site-specific nationalist work. In 2013, the institution collaborated with Yuval Sharon’s avant-garde opera company, the Industry, connected a show portion called “Invisible Cities” that took spot passim downtown’s bustling Union Station. Three years later, it partnered with the creation corporate Gerard & Kelly connected an experimental task performed wrong modernist dwellings, including the Schindler House.

With “City of Dance,” LADP advances its attack by putting its enactment successful speech with existent socioeconomic and biology issues and spreading it crossed Southern California. At a clip erstwhile creation successful L.A. feels precarious, with the closures of galore starring institutions, “City of Dance” brings attraction to the creation form’s quality to link with the assemblage and beforehand deeper conversations astir the metropolis.

Dancers rehearse astatine LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries arsenic portion of Benjamin Millepied’s “City of Dance” project.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

“Just to witnesser however the quality acquisition tin beryllium expressed done creation successful this incredibly almighty way, we admit the quality of an creation that’s truthful ephemeral, that happens successful the infinitesimal and is wholly fleeting, and that you can’t possess,” Millepied said. “We woody truthful overmuch with the difficulties of being successful the contiguous and being together, and I deliberation it makes creation consciousness much important.”

As Hollander closes her rehearsal astatine LACMA, the dancers tally done the last operation of the piece. They basal successful a enactment with arms intertwined and plaything their heads backmost to exposure their faces to the clouds. Some smile, and immoderate pensively look implicit the curve of the David Geffen Galleries. They interruption distant from the enactment and leave.

Soon, truthful bash the kids and the couples. LACMA is quiet.