REVIEW: Piñata Dance Collective’s Powerful Cuatro Vientos Debuts at Highways. By Jeff Slayton | Jun 22, 2023. LA Dance Chronicle
Cuatro Vientos: Middle of Nowhere is a multimedia dance-theater production that confronts strategies of walking alone. The Piñata Dance Collective investigates the physiology of fear, the concept of freedom and finding risk and refuge in the natural world. It is inspired by Bay Area choreographer, Liz Boubion’s 10-week residency in the Mojave desert during the pandemic and is dedicated to raising awareness and building solidarity for murdered and missing women accross the globe. Commissioned by the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers (FLACC).
Core Dancers: Abigail Hinson, Catalina O’Connor, Clairey Evangelho, Rosie Dater-Merton
Sound design: Michael Daddona + Musical Compositions by Laura Inserra and SOVOSO
Costumes: Jamielyn Duggan
Lighting: Zoë Klein
Artistic Contributions: Jen Hong, Lindsey Red-Tail, Stream Gao, Jasmine Zhang, Maria Ceja, Riva Madan, Angel Velez, Shilpa Kamat, Erika Gagnon, Cristina Lopéz and the women of Una Luz en el Camino, Tracey Lindsay Chan, Justin Hetrick, Matt Romain.
Photo: Tracy Lindsay Chan
San Francisco International Arts Festival– Joe Goode Annex. Thurs June 8th, 8pm + Sat June 10th, 6pm
Los Angeles/Santa Monica. Piñata Dance Collective LA Debut! Highways Performance Space. Fri-Sat June 16-17, 8:30-10:30pm
Pre-show video installation “Middle of Nowhere”- On a pilgrimage through the Mojave desert, a woman meets the elements with teeth, lungs and curiosity only miles from where the remains of a woman’s corpse were recently found near an abandoned car by the local U.S. Marine base. The ancient desert mythos transforms her body into the element of wind as she crosses into the spiritual realm, discovering lost souls, lost shoes, bullet shells and animal tracks. Excerpts Below:
San Francisco CLASSES Cuatro Vientos (four winds) Int/Adv Contemporary Practice ODC Dance Commons M-W May 8,10,15,17 10am-11:30am An eco-somatic approach to contemporary dance technique that moves from the ground-up, progressing to standing. Dropping in with somatic awareness exercises and heating up the body with modern-release techniques, choreographic phrases and improvisational scores based on Boubion's current work "Cuatro Vientos: Middle of Nowhere". The class is centered on directionality, nature archetypes and 4 levels of awareness (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual). Strong emphasis on the breath as initiator and responder of movement, as resource, as function, as metaphor, and as a source of musical accompaniment.