My Journey Through The Music Center dorothy chandler pavilion

Dance — Moving with the Music

When the Los Angeles Opera isn’t performing at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the stage is alive with dance.

A group of professional dancers who train and perform together is called a dance company. Each dance company specializes in a specific kind of dance. One may be more traditional (old), another more contemporary (new). The dancing, the costumes, the lighting and backdrops … even the shoes, if any, change dramatically from one dance company to another. All dance companies have one thing in common — they move to music.

When you dance, you move to music. You hear the music, you feel it inside, and your body responds and moves to that feeling. Every dancer in every dance company has the same experience. They hear, they feel, they move. But that doesn’t mean that they are making it up as they go along; far from it. The dance performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion are all choreographed. A dancer uses choreography the same way an actor uses a script. Every step, every move, is written down, or choreographed, for the dancer to follow. Like an actor, the dancer has to memorize the steps and practice them to the music to get them just right. Dancers train for many years to achieve the level of discipline, grace, and physical strength required to make it all seem easy.

Whatever your taste in dance, you are sure to find a company that speaks to your soul and makes you want to move with the music, too.

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is home to the Los Angeles Opera and dance companies

Dancing to a different tune

Dance companies present very different kinds of performances. Here is a sample of the kind of dance you could see at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Classical Ballet: The style of dance that strictly follows the rules and traditions of past generations.

Contemporary or Modern Dance: A reflection of the world and time when it was composed. This kind of dance has no rules.

Folk Dance: The dance of a people from a common culture, race or religion.