The Music Center Offstage Digital Platform Launches Today

The Music Center today launched a new virtual platform, The Music Center Offstage, offering an insider look into the world of the arts featuring exclusive interviews and compelling performances with international leaders in the dance community, plus interactive programs hosted by L.A.-based artists and online workshops appropriate for all ages. With newly curated presentations for at-home entertainment, including some in Spanish, The Music Center Offstage will add new content weekly, available on both demand as well as scheduled events, at musiccenter.org.

The site is available today with The Music Center's Artivities, initially featuring two "how-to" workshops led by Music Center Teaching Artists. Percussionist and faculty member at CalArts Andrew Grueschow hosts "Making Rhythms," an interactive exploration to create and perform short rhythmic compositions with household cups and hand clapping to mimic sounds. Using the building blocks of music, participants will be able to create compositions to perform on their own or with others. An animation and visual arts specialist, Lynn Okimura demonstrates how viewers can develop and learn ways to draw their own character in "Character Design Turnaround." Okimura uses her cat, Cosmo, to inspire her drawings and portrays him in multiple views (front, side, back) to bring her animations to life. Arts activity guides will accompany each workshop to provide families and arts lovers ways to learn more and enhance their experience.

Dance fans will get to experience Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch's Palermo Palermo online with rare insight on Sunday, April 19, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. when The Music Center's Digital Dance Experience and a special event called INSIDE LOOK: Tantztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. This program features an exclusive interview with Peter Pabst, a frequent collaborator with Pina Bausch and set designer of Palermo Palermo, plus the opportunity to watch the full ballet known for its dichotomy of grim horror and surreal humor. The interview will discuss the inner-workings and inspiration of Bausch, a trailblazing choreographer, and Pabst's close working relationship with her that led to some of the most creative, theatrical and dynamic presentations available in the dance canon. The Music Center's Digital Dance Experience will offer new opportunities to experience the best of dance from around the globe and right here at home.

"The Music Center is a cultural hub for our county and is blessed with iconic spaces, and today we look forward to producing new and exciting programming exclusively for our 'sixth' venue-The Music Center Offstage," said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO, The Music Center. "While we may be physically distant, the arts can help us become more connected, so we're offering virtual performances and activities to help renew our soul as a community. Now more than ever, we need to look for light and beauty, so we hope you'll join us online, both during this 'intermission' and into the future."

With the mission to deepen the cultural lives of every Angeleno through multidisciplinary arts experiences, The Music Center's new platform continues to share the healing power of the arts through online formats. The Music Center Offstage will have three main themed-sections of programming:

• The Music Center's Digital Dance Experience: This series will provide new ways to enjoy some of the best of dance from interactive events to a look behind-the-scenes at The Music Center's presentations, past, present and future. With INSIDE LOOK, which evolved from the Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center series, dance lovers now have the opportunity to enjoy and engage with significant works from some of the world's most prestigious ballet and contemporary dance artists.

• The Music Center's Artivities: This series will include at-home workshops by Music Center Teaching Artists, including Grueschow, Okimura and more, where participants learn and engage with many different art forms. Additionally, the site will offer performances by The Music Center on Tour and other local artists who introduce audiences to the world's diverse cultural traditions while inspiring creative thinking.
• Special Events: While other programs on The Music Center Offstage offer on-demand entertainment, this series will feature scheduled special events such as Grand Park's Our L.A. Voices and the virtual performance of The Music Center's 32nd annual Spotlight Grand Finale. Details to be announced.

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