California dreaming

Los Angeles: synonymous with sunshine, glamour, healthy eating and the body beautiful. It seems little wonder then that a contemporary dance troupe would want to set up camp there. But it wasn't any of these factors that attracted L.A. Dance Project to the city. In an interview with Zócalo Public Square last June the Project's founder, choreographer Benjamin Millepied, claimed he had a "French response" to LA, citing the light, the visual landscape and the abundance of arts spaces as the big draws.

But when it comes down to it, says Project Ballet Master Charlie Hodges, starting up in the city of angels was simply a question of why not? "LA comes with its own perks and hurdles. Like any city, where there's desire, there's a will to find a way – and the will of L.A. Dance Project is in sunny Southern California." Having spent their first year developing new works and delving into the canon of choreographic greats, the troupe will form part of EIF's 2013 dance programme, showcasing revivals of work by William Forsythe and Merce Cunningham, and a new piece by Millepied himself.

There's certainly a sweet whiff of glamour about them. Surely not many new dance companies can claim as their founder the official face of an Yves Saint Laurent fragrance who worked on an Oscar-winning film (Black Swan) and later married its star (Natalie Portman). Or to have raised over $250,000 in a single night, as L.A. Dance Project did in June, in a star-studded gala attended by the likes of Portman and Reese Witherspoon. But for Hodges it was the attraction of working with Millepied that led him to put on hold his academic studies to get involved.

"I had previously worked with Benjamin on a few separate projects and the collaborative relationship was positive, so when he asked I seriously considered. Saying no to graduate school was a very difficult decision. I had spent four weeks in Perth Australia teaching a dance course I created while in college for architecture. The experience changed my life and re-routed me back to the dance floor, where I belong."

Hodges says there isn't an L.A. Dance Project "type" when it comes to selecting performers but that individuality is part of the company's remit. "We crave individuality. None of us has the same skill set, body type or inclinations. This fosters an environment of growth and humility." It's a notion that has been gaining currency for some time in the contemporary dance world, with choreographers such as Ohad Naharin and Cesc Gelabert devising movement languages that celebrate each individual performer, and performers who don't conform to the stereotypical dancer body type—either through age, size or disability—appearing more and more. For audiences it provides the beauty of variety. For dancers such as Hodges, it's about the opportunity to keep developing as a performer. "For me it's exciting to know that my contributions, my strengths, matter to the group. But it's what I haven't learnt yet that counts. Getting to learn new skills via my colleagues is where growth and humility lie."

According to Hodges, L.A. Dance Project's theory of individuality doesn't just apply to the dancers but to the choice of pieces on their programmes too. Although part of the decision to schedule various works side by side comes down to the prosaic questions of which repertoire is available, dancers' calenders and venues, some of it is guided by a deliberate randomness. On their EIF triple-bill there's Cunningham's almost 50-year old Winterbranch, a piece set to a score of aluminium being dragged across glass which Hodges has in the past described as dramatically dividing audiences; Forsythe's Quintett, a final love letter to the choreographer's terminally-ill wife, created in 1993; and Millepied's Rodarte-costumed Moving Parts, described by the New York Times as showcasing "a modishly urban ballet mode." While some US critics have so far wondered what exactly it is that the group are trying to say, Hodges says that at times it comes down to the simple aesthetic of "balancing the performance for viewing pleasure."

Anyone looking for an overarching theme connecting the pieces may therefore be taxing their brain for a long time. "The three pieces are as unique as the dancers. Multiple styles of dance should exist together – it's like getting three different scoops of ice cream instead of the same scoop three times. It's more interesting and flavourful, and doesn't that sound delicious?"

Hodges hopes that the traffic will go two ways as well. Aside from audiences taking away a new appreciation for dance concerts, he hopes they can bring something to the table too. "Dance is a universal language. Hopefully audiences will leave having experienced a pleasant conversation with us, not just a performance."