Nobody Walks in L.A.?

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on May 26, 2006 7:40PM

Sara Wookey’s dance performance pieces aim to demolish the wall between artists and audience that too often has us scratching our heads at performance art. On her website, she talks about rejecting “a specific insular dance language that often excludes the public,” and achieves this by merging everyday experiences like waiting at the airport or looking in the mirror with a slate of strong, physical choreography.

Wookey studied dance in Illinois and, like so many in her profession, broadened her horizons in New York. Uniquely enough, she next moved to the Netherlands to establish a transatlantic career, commuting between Amsterdam and Los Angeles and securing funding from the Dutch government. Straddling two cultures and racking up the frequent flier miles inspired Love’s Geography: Revisited, a piece based on scholar Peggy Phelan’s love letter and performed this weekend at Links Hall along with Walking LA, a meditation on La La Land’s hidden landscape. The twin bill intends to create a dialogue about distance and identity. That dialogue continues Saturday afternoon at a symposium with artists and academics in Wookey’s native and adopted countries.

Wookey Works, Love’s Geography: Revisited and Walking LA will be performed at Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield, Friday – Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 7pm. The “Suspended Spaces” symposium will be held at Links Hall Saturday at 2pm. Tickets are $15, $10 for students and seniors. For more information, go to www.linkshall.org

Image via CalArts