Brand Associates’ Dance Series

The Brand Associates’ Dance Series presents three performances this spring at Brand Library & Art Center, 1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale, CA 91201. This series curated by Jame Nichols (Executive Producer and Founder of Celebrate Dance at the Alex Theatre)  presents top dance companies from Southern California performing site specific work in non-traditional performance spaces around Brand Library. These interactive events will be followed by a reception and an opportunity to meet the artists. Performances begin at 6pm FOR FREE.

FUSE / Saturday, April 27 / 6PM / FREE
GRAYSCALE /  Saturday, May 11 / 6PM / FREE
Versa-Style / Saturday, May 18 / 6PM / FREE

FUSE Dance Company’s mission is to support and foster the growth and development of the performing arts in Southern California. FUSE will present “HOME,” a collection of works that reflect family life and interpersonal connections. FUSE is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and foster the growth and development of the performing arts in Southern California through performances, dance education, and dance community collaboration programs. Through research and exploration, FUSE develops an aesthetic that merges contemporary dance with other movement practices.The company was established by director Joshua D. Estrada-Romero in February of 2010. Since then FUSE has participated in many Southern California dance festivals and events including the Vox Dance Theatre Showcase in Los Angeles, Raw Orange County Showcase, MixMatch Dance Festival, BlakTina Dance Festival, Los Angeles Dance Festival, and was a two-time finalist for the Choreography Festival at the McCallum Theatre. For four consecutive years FUSE has performed for the Lineage Dance Festival in Pasadena and The SoCal Dance Invitational produced by Nannette Brodie Dance Company and the Nebula’s HHII Dance Festival in Santa Barbara. FUSE has also been privileged to perform outside of California by participating in The Men in Dance Festival in Seattle WA, the Dumbo Dance Festival in Brooklyn NY, the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival in Boston MA, and at the Ballet Austin Ventures Theatre in Austin TX.

GRAYSCALE aims to explore the intimate connection between movement and the musical score, GRAYSCALE also seeks to illuminate the relationship between the audience and the performer through bringing the viewers’ awareness to their participation in the dance by being present in the space created. Most recently, artistic director Jessica Kondrath and the company have been involved in collaborations with visual artists and musicians in creating works for site-specific spaces. Formed in 2005 in New York City and currently located in Los Angeles, CA, GRAYSCALE has shown work throughout NYC, Chicago, and along the California coast at venues and festivals such as Triskelion Arts, The Merce Cunningham Studios, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The D.U.M.B.O. Dance Festival, Dance Mission Theater (San Francisco), Center Stage Theater (Santa Barbara), ARC Pasadena, Detroit Dance City Festival, and Dance Chicago, among others.  As both artistic director of GRAYSCALE and faculty of El Camino College, Jessica Kondrath has had works commissioned by CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Moorpark College, El Camino College, Santa Monica College, CSU Fullerton, and Momenta Performing Arts Company (Oak Park, IL).

For over 13 years now Versa-Style has promoted the empowerment, artistry, and value of hip-hop dance culture through full-length street dance theater productions, educational performances, and deeply rooted social justice work in the community of Los Angeles. Versa-Style continues to uphold these values and thanks the creators of these powerful movements who continue to inspire us today by creating highly energetic work that fuses dances that are culturally significant to our community. Jackie Lopez aka Miss Funk & Leigh Foaad aka Breeze-lee are the Founders and Artistic Directors of Versa-Style Dance Company. Together they share a common passion for dance and performance, this connection resulted in the creation of Versa-Style in 2005. These forms include Hip-Hop styles such as 90s Hip-Hop, House, Popping, Locking, Whacking and Boogaloo, and Afro- Latin styles such as Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia and Afro-Cuban to name a few. As a reaction to the widespread media misrepresentation of these dance forms, Versa-Style specifically aims to perform for the youth of Los Angeles to instill the roots, history, and social and political issues surrounding the art of our generation.Hip-Hop breaks color lines by creating a forum where people come together for a common passion rather than grouping themselves by race or socio-economic backgrounds. Versa-Style demonstrates freedom of expression, freedom of individuality, hard work, self-discipline and dedication to the form.

The performances are free and open to the public. Seating is limited. An accessible entrance and parking is located on the East side of the building. For more information contact, 818-548-2051.

Brand Library & Art Center is located in northwest Glendale, easily accessed via the Golden State (5) or Ventura (134) freeways. Hours are Tuesday-Thursday, 11 am-8 pm and Friday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm. Admission to all events is free and open to the public unless otherwise stated. There is ample free parking. Call 818-548-2051 or visit www.brandlibrary.org for more information.