June 5, 2025 Performance at the Avalon Hollywood by Bodytraffic
Courtesy of Bodytraffic
On June 5th, Bodytraffic, the contemporary dance company, will end their 2024-2025 Los Angeles season at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood. The performance, This Feeling Reminds me of You, will feature three works commissioned for the company, renowned choreographer Trey McIntyre’s Mayhem, which the company has been performing to enthusiastic audiences, and two new works by members of the company, Jordyn Santiago and Joan Rodriguez. For tickets, click here.
“I really pride myself in the work that we do at Body Traffic,” artistic director Tina Finkelman Berkett told me recently, “at bringing people the best of what’s happening in contemporary dance.” She is hoping audiences come to see these new works and new voices in choreography. “if you want dance to survive, you have to help usher in that next generation of choreographers.”
Burkett is coming to the end of an LA season in which the company, almost 20 years old, has matured and is experiencing great growth. Since Gillian Wynn joined as President in 2022, Bodytraffic’s Board has grown. and is now filled with seasoned brand strategists, financial officers, content creators, as well as choreographer Trey McIntyre, plus a seasoned advisory board.
Tina Finkelman Berkett, co-founder and artistic director of BODYTRAFFIC
Photo by Guzman Rosado, courtesy of Tina Finkelman Berkett and BODYTRAFFIC
For much of Bodytraffic’s history, Berkett served as artistic director as well as executive director. They have recently completed their search for an executive director (which they will announce soon).
“This is a tremendous next step for us to usher in the next chapter of the company because it will hopefully allow me to focus more on the art, on the dancers, on the choreographers.”
With regard to the new works from company members Santiago and Rodriguez, Berkett was involved in many aspects of those works’ development, from notes to suggesting how dancers might express a certain consciousness, to deciding on live music for one piece.
Also, for the first time, Bodytraffic received a $1 Million grant from the Perenchio Foundation which Berkett cited as “just another example of how Gillian’s involvement has allowed the funding community to build trust in our company and the staying power of Bodytraffic.”
Bodytraffic just complete a sold out week at The Joyce Theater in New York. Burkett’s hopes that with an expanded board, and expanded outreach to the community of dancers and the dance community, Los Angeles will demonstrate the same passion for seeing dance. Also, this summer Bodytraffic will perform at Jacob’s Pillow, in the Berkshires, July 2-6, 2025
As an artistic director, Burkett is also maturing her own vision for the company, she said, “by finding the balance between commissioning works by really well established choreographers whose names are a draw for audiences, licensing works that exist that I know will do really well in our repertory; and then, making space for new choreographic voices, because my overarching commitment is to furthering the art form of dance.”
Given the current funding climate, and the cuts to federal support of the arts, Burkett is concerned about the struggles of emerging dance artists looking for a job. Burkett is conversation on this subject with USC Kaufman, and with the Julliard School.
Burkett does not know the answer. She knows she can’t give them all jobs. But what Bodytraffic does, Berkett told me, is “offer company class every morning that the company’s in town completely for free And in addition, we’ve been bulking up our community offerings, which means offering classes that are not necessarily for professional dancers, but just giving people an opportunity to come in, and be in space with other people, [experiencing] shared dance, [and] feel the power of how dance can make you feel alive and get those endorphins going.”
For more information, click here, and for tickets, here.