John Hogg
Dancer and choreographer Gregory Maqoma's "Cion: Requiem of Ravel's Boléro" kicks off the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance 2024-25 season on Sept. 21 at Royce Hall.
Key takeaways
- The UCLA Center for the Art of Performance's 2024-25 season, which begins Sept. 21, will feature more than 30 projects from artists around the globe at venues throughout Westwood and the city of Los Angeles.
- This season is the first under artistic and executive director Edgar Miramontes, who earned a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 2002.
- Tickets go on sale July 8 for CAP UCLA members and to the general public on July 10.
The UCLA Center for the Art of Performance 2024-25 season will bring more than 80 artists, representing more than 10 countries, to performance venues across Westwood and the Los Angeles area during Edgar Miramontes' first season as artistic and executive director.
A breadth of programs will offer audiences themes of connection and cultural inclusivity across poetry, dance, theater, multimedia performances and a variety of music disciplines, including classical, electronic, mambo and more.
"Throughout my experience as an undocumented individual, from my time as a UCLA student to my career as a dance-theater artist, the study of geography — the social, cultural, and political — became a study of the imaginary for me, the study of places I could not visit," said Miramontes, who earned a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 2002. "Arts and cultural spaces, including CAP UCLA, became my windows to the world, and through the performing arts, I transported myself to experience places that existed only in my imagination. In many ways, my inaugural season is an embodiment of this transformative journey."
More than 30 diverse projects will be offered at the UCLA Nimoy Theater, Royce Hall, The United Theater on Broadway, Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater, Freud Playhouse and UCLA's Little Theater. CAP UCLA's commitment to cultural equity extends beyond the stage, with affordable ticket options to ensure accessibility for all audiences. This season encourages audiences to embrace and recognize commonalities through the arts, encouraging broader engagement, understanding, and appreciation for both our own and different cultural traditions.
Highlights of the season include:
- Dancer and choreographer Gregory Maqoma's Cion: "Requiem of Ravel's Boléro" explores greed, power and grief in post-apartheid South Africa.
- Congolese dancer and choreographer Faustin Linyekula's "My Body, My Archive" examines the ways in which a body can carry and reflect the histories of those who have come before.
- Collaborative theater collective Piehole presents "Disclaimer," an interactive experience that blends the urgency of de-escalation in Iran-U.S. relations with the intrigue of an Agatha Christie-style mystery.
- Acclaimed theater ensemble Elevator Repair Service tackles James Joyce's "Ulysses" with a sober reading that spirals into chaos with pints, brawls and debauchery, offering a madcap, fast-paced tour of Joyce's styles complemented by a richly layered sound design.
- Award-winning jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant offers imaginative interpretations of standards and original works.
- Shamel Pitts' "BLACK HOLE," an Afrofuturism-inspired performance, fuses dance, sound and visuals to celebrate empowerment, unity and transformation.
- Choreographer and dancer Wen Hui and interdisciplinary artist Eiko Otake perform and express their personal memories related to current and historical wars in "What Is War."
- Grammy Award-winning Chicano rock ensemble Quetzal performs songs rooted in barrio life, social activism and feminism.
- The Centre for the Less Good Idea brings its free-spirited creative approach to "A Defense of the Less Good Idea," a series of short-form, epic theater explorations preceded by a performance-based lecture by cofounder William Kentridge.
Tickets go on sale July 8 for CAP UCLA members, on July 9 for CAP UCLA newsletter subscribers and to the general public starting July 10.
Read the full announcement and view the full CAP UCLA schedule.
