Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre revives 1993 work ‘Parts & Labor’

Los Angeles-based Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre will produce its first official performance of the season in May: Parts & Labor. This work is “extra special” to the company as it’s a throwback to the troupe’s earliest years.

Since its inception in 1985, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre has been directed by its namesake, once dubbed “the reigning queen of site-specific performance” by the Los Angeles Times. Choreographer Heidi Duckler has presented works the world over and is currently a board member for the University of Oregon’s School of Music and Dance Advancement Council. She has been recognized with an American Masterpieces Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and has received two Dance/USA Engaging Dance Audiences grants. More recently, she’s been honored with the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival’s Maverick Award.

This production of Duckler’s 1993 work Parts & Labor is a unique opportunity to see some of her earlier choreography. It explores America’s love/hate relationship with cars, with a 1970’s Cadillac Coupe de Ville at the center of everything. Onlookers can expect to see the Cadillac serving as not just a stage and prop, but also as an instrument. Percussionists from the band Antenna Repairmen will microphone the car and play it.

This one-of-a-kind show will be presented Saturday, May 7 at 8 pm at the
Santa Palm Car Wash, located at 8787 Santa Monica Blvd. in
West Hollywood. For tickets, head to ovationtix.com. Note that if you purchase a ticket between now and Monday, April 25 the company will donate a performance ticket to a Fairfax High School student.

Image courtesy of Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre.