Ephrat Asherie Dance: ODEON Will Have its Premiere at The Broad Stage in April

The Broad Stage presents the Los Angeles premiere of Ephrat Asherie Dance: ODEON on its main stage on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 at 7:30PM. The company jumped to the front of the dance world with ODEON, which layers breaking, hip-hop, house and vogue to the rich and buoyant sounds of fin-de-siecle Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, performed live. Rooted in street and social dance, Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD) is dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of various African American and Latinx vernacular forms.

ODEON, an original dance work for six dancers and four musicians, is the second collaboration between sister and brother team Ephrat and Ehud Asherie (choreographer and musical director, respectively). Set to the music of Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, known for mixing early 20th century romantic music with samba and other popular Afro-Brazilian rhythms, this work takes a hybrid approach to movement.

ODEON, which premiered at the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival June 27, 2018, delves into what happens when you bring together parts of the extended family of street and club dances--including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue-- remix them and investigate what happens as they inhabit unfamiliar spatial and choreographic contexts.

Tickets starting at $35 are available at thebroadstage.org, by calling 310.434.3200, and visiting the box office at 1310 11thSt. Santa Monica CA 90401, beginning three hours prior to performance.

Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD) is a dance company rooted in African American and Latinx street and social dance. Dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of these forms, EAD investigates the expansive narrative qualities of various street and club styles including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue, as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression.

EAD's first evening-length work, A Single Ride, earned two Bessie nominations in 2013 for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding Sound Design by Marty Beller. The company has presented work at the Apollo Theater, Celebrity Series, New York City Center, Columbia College, Dixon Place, FiraTarrega, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, La MaMa, River to River Festival, Mass MoCA, New York Live Arts, Spoleto Festival USA, Summerstage and The Yard, among others.

Roslyn Sulcas in The New York Times, said, "They play the infectiously melodic, dancey music of the early-20th-century Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, and Asherie matches the diverse musical forms - sambas, waltzes, tangos, ragtime, African rhythms and classical strains with a choreographic hothouse blend of her own. Street and club dance, voguing and breaking, tap rhythms, capoeira and contemporary dance idioms are all part of the mix.

ODEON, the title of the second Nazareth composition in the piece, is an ancient Greek name for a small theater where poets, musicians and singers presented their work. It's a perfect title for a dance that celebrates a community of artists with the kind of generosity that makes the viewer feel a part of things too."

"Liz Thompson in The Berkshire Edge said, "The work is a gift. A visit to Ephrat's world is uplifting. The dancers and musicians are stellar. She speaks eloquently of how the club culture is warm and welcoming to individuals no matter how they identify. All of this is quite clearly manifested in ODEON - the dancers and musicians work within a framework created by Asherie. There are moments of improvisation that, while not obvious to the audience, infuse the evening with abundant energy and joy."

The movement vocabulary is stunning and unique. Ephrat has sourced many contemporary forms - hip hop, break, b-boy, b-girl, etc. - and many musical traditions ... let me simply state that ODEON is real, honest and breathtaking. It is beautifully crafted - unique movement gently arranged in traditional ways, the use of unison juxtaposed with mind-blowing solos, silence punctuating dense sound."

Chicago Tribune said, "Joyful and exuberant! If break dancing and bossa nova had a baby, it might look something like the style of Ephrat Asherie Dance. ODEON combines love and talent for jazz music, break dancing and Brazilian traditions ... blending Latin social dance traditions with New York-style break dancing."

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Dancer) is a New York City- based b-girl, performer, director and choreographer and a 2016 Bessie Award Winner for Innovative Achievement in Dance. Asherie has received numerous awards to support her work including Dance Magazine's Inaugural Harkness Promise Award, a Jacob's Pillow Fellowship at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, and a National Dance Project Award. In 2019 she was the recipient of a NYFA Fellowship and a New York City Center Choreography Fellowship. Asherie is currently a 2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow.

Her new work UnderScored, commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim, was awarded a 2019 Creation and Development Award from the National Performance Network. This multi-faceted project, which includes archiving the oral histories of elders from New York City's underground dance community as well as an evening length documentary dance-theater work, will premiere in fall 2022.

Asherie has created work for various university dance programs, including programs at Lehman College, Smith College, SUNY Brockport and the University of California, Santa Barbara, among others. She earned her BA from Barnard College, Columbia University in Italian and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee where she researched the vernacular jazz dance roots of contemporary street and club dances.

Asherie is honored to have been mentored by Richard Santiago (aka Break Easy) and to have worked and collaborated with Buddha Stretch, Bill Irwin, Michelle Dorrance, Doug Elkins, Gus Solomons jr and Rennie Harris. Asherie is a co-founding member of the all-female house dance collective MAWU and is forever grateful to NYC's underground dance community for inspiring her to pursue a life as an artist.

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