Contra-Tiempo Dance Company

CONTRA-TIEMPO is an Urban Latin Dance Theater company based in Los Angeles, California. It was originally founded in 2002 by choreographer and dancer Ana Maria Alvarez. In 2005, the company became incorporated and federally recognized as a non-profit arts organization. The company tours nationally and internationally.

History[edit]

The company originated from Ana Maria Alvarez’s thesis concert called Contra-Tiempo at UCLA’s Department of World’s Arts and Cultures. The original cast was 12 local Salsa dancers from Los Angeles, California. The focus of her thesis work was Salsa as a metaphor for resistance inside of the national immigration debate of the time. The company’s first public performance was at Highways Performance Arts Space. After two years of touring the work, Alvarez filed for 501c3 and kept the name CONTRA-TIEMPO. Alvarez worked closely with her brother, Cesar Alvarez, as a composer and artistic collaborator on the first 3 evening length works: Against the Times, I Dream America, and Full Still Hungry.

Founder[edit]

Alvarez (born August 17th, 1977) is a Cuban American dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Alvarez received a BA in Dance and Politics from Oberlin College and an MFA in Choreography from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures. Alvarez studied for over a decade with Cutumba Baile Folklorico de Santiago de Cuba and also studied with Katherine Dunham and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.

Urban Latin Dance Theater[edit]

Urban Latin Dance Theater (ULDT) was created by Ana Maria Alvarez in 2002. It is a blend of multiple dance forms rooting in the African diaspora. It draws from techniques such as Salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, and contemporary dance, layering these forms with theater, text, and music. The focus of the technique is to locate oneself in the “in between”.

Repertory[edit]

joyUS justUS (2018)[edit]

joyUS justUS premieres on September 13th, 2018 at the University of Southern California.

She Who: Frida, Mama, & Me (2016)[edit]

The first on stage showing of She Who: Frida, Mama, & Me was at the Ford Amphitheater's Summer 2016 Signature Series. It was choreographed by Marjani Forte-Saunders and the creative collaborators involved in this piece were David Reynoso (costume design), Tuce Kasak (lighting design), Meena Murugesan (media design), and d. Sabela grimes (sound design).

Agua Furiosa (2016)[edit]

Agua Furiosa premiered on January 14th, 2016 at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. It is a 90-minute show and was created with the help of d. Sabela grimes (sound designer), Pyeng Threadgill (vocalist), Masha Tsimring (lighting designer), and Michael Garces (dramaturg).

Full Still Hungry (2011)[edit]

Full Still Hungry premiered on September 23rd, 2011 at the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California. It brings together salsa, Afro-Cuban, urban, and contemporary dance-theater. The music for this piece was composed by founder Cesar Alvarez and was performed live. Full Still Hungry was supported from a grant from The James Irvine Foundation and CounterPULSE’s Performing Diaspora Program.

I Dream America (2007)[edit]

I Dream America first debuted as a full performance in Los Angeles at the Unknown Theater in July 2007, but pieces of it were performed in Mexico as part of the Festival Internacional de Teatro de Los Angeles (FITLA). It is a 40-minute movement opera. Between 2008-2010 the company performed the work in North Carolina, Georgia, New York, Washington D.C, Virginia, California, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Minnesota.

Against the Times[edit]

Against the Times is a piece focusing on salsa and breaking the traditional roles of the dance form, specifically the gender roles.

Duet[edit]

The Duet is a piece about power and the opposition between fighting and giving in. It can be performed alone or as part of Against the Times

Brackish Water[edit]

Brackish Water is a work commissioned by New Dance at Saint Joseph Ballet in Orange County in 2008. It is performed by the men of the dance company.

Plastico[edit]

Plastico was created for Celebrate Dance 2008 and was produced by Jamie Nichols. It focuses on the media's representation of salsa as opposed to how salsa originally came to be as a dance form of social resistance.

Community/Engagement Work[edit]

CONTRA-TIEMPO has engaged with their local LA community in multiple ways over the years.

Choreographic Laboratories[edit]

Open to the public choreographic labs were conducted in different areas in LA as part of the creative process for the piece Agua Furiosa which premiered in 2016. They began in 2015 and continue to the present.

Community Coalition Partnership[edit]

In 2016, CONTRA-TIEMPO partnered with Community Coalition in South LA as part of a 2-year project called “From Movement to Movements: Creating Art and Action in South LA”. Community Coalition, also known locally as “Coco”, works in communities in South LA in order to bring equality to the region both financially and socially when compared to other nearby regions. Together, the companies work to promote “artivism”.

Collaborators[edit]

Marjani Forte-Saunders
Tiffany Judkins
Michael Garces
Pyeng Threadgill
d. Sabela grimes
Masha Tsimring
Rosalida Medina
Emily Orling
Las Cafeteras
Charlese Antoinette

References[edit]

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