Author: Sophie Myrtil-McCourty

“Social dance is so connected to social change. People getting together as a community inside oppression, resistance, pain, and difficulty and still having the capacity to move together and feel joy has been a form of resistance. We get so bogged down in the ins and outs, but our bodies and the art form of…

Alvarez speaks on the process of the piece, which took almost two years to develop. With joyUS justUS,she looked into everything unique about each artist involved. Working with 8 dancers of diverse backgrounds, she was not looking for unity but for the thing that makes each artist different. Through the work, the dancers were really connected to…

“It was fantastic, very expressive and thought-provoking and passionate,” said attendee Brandon Norwick, a hospitality professional. “It was everything. It was multicultural, as diverse as we are and moving in a lot of ways.” Read the full review here.

The Los Angeles based Contra-Tiempo: Urban Latin Dance Theater brought high-powered entertainment, reminders of darker moments in our nation’s history and political activism to the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach on Saturday, November 10, 2018. The dancing was superb, the music outstanding and the message was potent, timely and positive. Conceived and Directed by…

“I don’t want people to come and feel ‘that was a nice show to watch,’ ” Alvarez said. “But I want people to come and say that’s a reflection of the world we live in and I’m a part of that. I want them to be inspired.” Read the full preview here.  

“There is so much injustice, pain and disconnect in the world, to ignite joy is radical and is an act of resistance and empowerment,” Alvarez said. “To choose joy in the face of injustice, pain and disconnect takes our lives and existence outside. It is flipping the script to be tools for action.” Read the…

‘Contra-Tiempo’s new work joyUS justUS is exuberant, activist dance-theater. Say the title out loud and you hear “joyous justice.” Dig deeper, and you discover it takes a stand on topics that are on the boil in America today: immigration, resistance, the power of women, and what it means to be Latino. It’s by and about people of…