ABOUT INVERTIGO Invertigo Dance Theatre was founded in 2007 by Artistic Director Laura Karlin. Pioneering the dance theatre presence in Los Angeles, Laura harnesses the expressive nature of movement s ability to tell stories. The company has grown steadily since its founding, as new audiences discover Invertigo s fresh, vibrant, and sometimes provocative works. This growth was acknowledged when Dance Spirit Magazine named Invertigo one of the top six trend-setting companies to watch in LA. Invertigo has performed original evening-length and shorter works across LA, in venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ford Theatres, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Grand Park, and the Broad Stage. The company is regularly invited to perform and give master classes at festivals, such as National Dance Day (Seattle) and Dance Camera West as well as winning at McCallum. Invertigo s new works are frequently commissioned and often include original music that is performed live onstage. In addition to Invertigo s performances, the Dancing Through Parkinson s community program provides donation-based classes to people living with degenerative conditions, and the Invert/ED program provides a range of dance education and performance opportunities to local schoolchildren. Throughout all company initiatives, Invertigo is committed to paying fair wages to company members and commissioned artists. Real wit and humor... a peculiar theatrical charm... -Dance Plug
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT A strong track record in making dance accessible. - LA Weekly DANCING THROUGH PARKINSON S provides dance classes designed for people living with Parkinson s Disease as well as their friends, family and carepartners. As part of a residency package, we create workshops and classes for local groups from the Parkinson s community and/or for seniors in general. Invert/ED EDUCATION PROGRAM emphasizes creative ownership and interdisciplinary learning. Classes develop teamwork, innovative thinking, physical awareness and language skills. As part of a residency package, we work with a range of ages and abilities. We offer classes, performance-workshops and week-long residencies to kindergarten through preprofessional students. STORYTELLING THROUGH MOVEMENT From cathartic personal reflection to crowd-sourced dreamscapes, anyone with a story can benefit from Storytelling Through Movement. Invertigo artists use the creative process to empower participants and help them develop and share their stories through music and dance. Adaptable, fun and empowering for all demographics.
Invertigo is a force to be reckoned with in this scene. - ArtsBeatLA
Selected Regional Performance History Moves After Dark at The Music Center Independent Shakespeare Company Seattle International Dance Festival Los Angeles County Museum of Art Los Angeles Theatre Center Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Dance Camera West Ford Theatres McCallum Theater Odyssey Theatre Moss Theater Alex Theatre Broad Stage Grand Park
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, LAURA KARLIN Laura Karlin is a choreographer, teacher and advocate for empowering people of all ages and abilities through dance. She founded Invertigo Dance Theatre in 2007 with the aim of contributing a vibrant dance institution to the Los Angeles arts scene. In 2009, she added the Invert/ED education/ engagement program, and in 2010, she co-founded the Dancing Through Parkinson s program. Laura s choreographic style combines whimsy with intense physicality, telling stories from multiple nuanced perspectives and inviting audiences to experience a wide range of dynamics and emotional contexts. She creates dance for performances and classes that blends accessibility with compelling, sometimes challenging richness. Laura s work for Invertigo has been presented at venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ford Amphitheatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Broad Stage, and LACMA. As the company s choreographer, she collaborates with her dancers to create virtuosic interdisciplinary dance theatre works. She has created over 40 pieces for the company, eight of which have been full evening-length works. Her work is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the California Arts Council, LA County Arts Commission, and a loyal base of individual donors. As an independent choreographer, Laura has been commissioned by the LA Contemporary Dance Company, award-winning musician Richard Thompson, Celebrate Dance and The Music Center. She has taught and been a guest artist at Loyola Marymount University, Santa Monica College, Pierce College, La Companyia in Barcelona, and University California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, she has established ongoing partnerships with other non-profit arts organizations in LA, including choreographing for and performing alongside the Independent Shakespeare Company. Laura graduated from Cornell University with a dual degree in Choreography/Production and Pre-Law/LGBTQ Civil Rights. She studied dance theatre and contemporary dance in London under Akram Khan, Ben Duke/Lost Dog Dance and Candoco, while choreographing for and performing with Synergy Dance Theatre, Snapdragon Dance and the prestigious Resolution! Festival. Laura approaches dance as a way to establish communication and trust among her dancers, students, and audiences, bringing together groups diverse in age, ability, access, and background through the joy of movement. Her social and political engagement is subtly infused in her life and, as a necessary extension, in her work as well. This serves as the basis for her inclusive audition practices and collaborative choreographic processes, as well as Invertigo s education and community programming.
AVAILABLE PROGRAMMING *pricing available for individual and week long performances After It Happened Set in the aftermath of a natural disaster, After It Happened is an evening of dance, theatre, live music, tragedy, comedy, blue trash bags and hope. The show tells a story of human resilience, as a community rebuilds itself and searches for hope amid the refuse. Reeling Reeling is an hour-long dance theatre work set in a bar. Eight lonely hearts search for connection through the hazy sea of a night out. Where the dive bar acts as a literal platform for dancers to hurl themselves off, Reeling examines blurred boundaries between fun and violence, spectator and performer, longing and sensuality. Interior Design Enter a world of magical realism with Invertigo Dance Theatre s entrancing style of storytelling. Los Angeles-based choreographer Laura Karlin blends beautiful, athletic and virtuosic dancing with vivid elements of theatre. In Interior Design, a man and a woman move into a new space together, and the process is intimate, hilarious, strange and beautiful. Formulae & Fairy Tales Formulae & Fairy Tales is a full-length work casting the life of Alan Turing, mathematical genius and World War II codebreaker, into the technicolor and mythologized ideas of his favorite film, Disney s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This work is currently in production and will be available for touring beginning 2019. The engaging members of Invertigo Dance Theatre celebrate human resilience in After It Happened... Los Angeles Times
AFTER IT HAPPENED P E A community rebuilds and finds hope in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Beautiful, athletic and virtuosic dancing is complemented by live music, puppetry and vivid elements of theatre. Full Company Live or Recorded Music 75 mins + Intermission Email for pricing on single or week long performances. AFTER IT HAPPENED is probably the most important dance work you will see this year. It is also surely one of the most adventurous, surprising and moving. Do not miss it. -Theatre Ghost 5 Things To Do - KCRW #1 Dance Show of 2014 - LA Weekly Top 10 LA Theatre - Bitter Lemons
Set in a dive bar, Reeling follows the story of a cast of lively characters during a night out... From innovative contemporary dance partnering to a girl dancing with a goldfish, Reeling is available for touring 2018-2020. Full Company Live or Recorded Music Run Time: 60 mins + Intermission
INTERIOR DESIGN Interior Design is a dance theatre work based on the double-meaning of the title phrase. How do we design and inhabit our living space, and how do we design our own internal spaces? A couple moves into a new space together, and the process is hilarious, strange and intimate. They navigate nosy neighbors, profound loss, inside jokes, and a sea of boxes. 2 performers Recorded music 45 minutes (No intermission)
Invertigo Dance Theatre s newest work-in-progress is Formulae & Fairy Tales, a fulllength work casting the life of Alan Turing, mathematical genius and World War II codebreaker, into the technicolor and mythologized ideas of his favorite film, Disney s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After the war, Turing was criminally prosecuted for being gay and forced into chemical castration. In 1954, he committed suicide by eating an apple laced with cyanide, an act eerily foreshadowed by Snow White. Formulae & Fairy Tales places the cold, high-stakes world of mathematics, artificial intelligence, and cryptography alongside a vivid, twisted fairy tale palette; blending historical events, sexuality, gender identity, artificial intelligence, and our essential humanity. The choreography plays on binary vs. nuance, mathematical precision vs. sensual expression. Invertigo strives to create connections and tell stories that resonate with diverse communities. Invertigo s theatrical style renders potentially academic or esoteric source material into a powerful, accessible, immersive experience. With Formulae & Fairy Tales, we are developing partnerships with the STEM academic community, LGBTQIA+ organizations, queer activists, and those working with technology to connect in new and innovative ways - reaching an audience that expands beyond the typical dance audience. Full Company Recorded Music Run Time: 75 mins + Intermission
Invertigo brings a singular powerful vision by blurring boundaries between life and stage.
CONTACT To request a full press kit, video links, or to inquire about scheduling, please contact: Booking Contact: Leslie Scott leslie@invertigodance.org Executive Director: Tara Aesquivel tara@invertigodance.org Artistic Director: Laura Karlin laura@invertigodance.org Press Inquiries: Brittany Gash brittany@invertigodance.org 424.229.2141 www.invertigodance.org