Modern Dance For Dummies…

By Victoria Looseleaf

…could be the subtitle of Casebolt and Smith’s dance/theater piece, O(h), now playing weekends through February 19 at the Actors Company Theatre in West Hollywood, a cool space to see dance. We were the first to write about Liz Casebolt and Joel Smith for the Los Angeles Times in 2008 (as part of a larger article), so click here to read that. Flash forward to: Their latest show, one intended to broaden the audience for contemporary dance, features the pair having no compunctions about tackling sacred cows, including Martha Graham (click here to read our LAT review of the Graham troupe’s visit last year, the 85th anniversary of the company).

And dance aficionados will surely enjoy references to the likes of Charles Weidman (right, from 1939, The Dance of Life; photo by Barbara Morgan), and Jiří Kylián. (Click here for our reportage on Netherlands Dance Theater, the Hague-based troupe that performed at the Pavilion last March. We also did a KUSC interview with Jim Vincent, who, alas, is no longer directing the company – and have covered many a Holland Dance Festival in Den Hague, so click here for our Dance Magazine coverage from 2009.)

But we digress: We recently reviewed Casebolt and Smith for Dance Magazine, so not wishing to be redundant, click here to read our take for yourselves. Also, in the spirit of supporting Los Angeles dance, we urge you to puhleeze get thee to the West Hollywood venue and see for yourselves this unique act, albeit one in search of a director. Enjoy and please let us know what you think. Merci, gracias, thanks and danke. (And for those seeking to further enhance the dance-going experience, check out Wim Wenders‘ new 3D documentary, Pina, Germany’s entry for best Oscar documentary, and click here for our coverage. After all, one can never have too much dance!)

Photos of Casebolt and Smith by Jeff Larson.