Dance breathes life into L.A. Dance Project’s 10-year anniversary gala
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – For many L.A. Dance Project members, the group’s most celebrated 10th years have been a blur of frustration and joy.
Now that the group, known for its energetic, often spontaneous and often irreverent routines, has a new-found energy, a new-found purpose and new members, many are looking back and reflecting on the group’s past 10 years.
One in particular, who started in the business as a solo dancer in Boston and now works as a choreographer and dancer, had a particular fondness for Los Angeles.
“When I started out here, L.A. was very new and very creative,” said the 41-year-old man, who goes by the stage name Adam P. “That was the first time I experienced such an amazingly creative group of people.”
As he watched the group develop, he noticed they had become more focused on being themselves (rather than trying to be the ‘next big thing’) and had become more self-contained.
There were early successes, including the groundbreaking show The New Group and the video for the group’s single “Wake Up Everybody”, but later came the frustrations and disappointments, including multiple group members leaving the group and a breakup with its founder and namesake, dance icon and choreographer David Gordon.
The last two decades have been particularly difficult, with financial struggles, personal issues, changing demographics and a decline in the number of dance companies coming to Los Angeles.
“The group is in a really interesting time, and we’re having a lot of fun while we make it,” said group member and choreographer John Boccato.
Los Angeles dance company L.A. Dance Project has celebrated its 10th anniversary on