Heidi Duckler Dance Presents Architecture Through The Body: A Living Legacy

Heidi Duckler Dance Presents Architecture Through The Body: A Living Legacy
LOS ANGELES (July 9, 2025) — Heidi Duckler Dance (HDD) proudly announces A Living Legacy, a special exhibition at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), showcasing 40 years of groundbreaking site-specific work and the dynamic relationship between dance and architecture.

Opening Friday, July 18, 2025, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the exhibition features an immersive journey through Heidi Duckler Dance’s archives, including striking photography, video projections, original costumes, news clippings, historic choreography, and more. From the iconic Laundromatinee to site-specific collaborations with architects, these elements highlight the company’s lasting commitment to movement, storytelling, and the built environment.

At 8:00 PM, join us for a panel discussion featuring architects and choreographers as they explore the creative synergy between their disciplines and how space and movement inform one another.

Panelists included renowned architects Christopher Torres and Scott Johnson, alongside choreographers Samantha Blake Goodman and Corina Kinnear and more.

Spanning rooftops, staircases, parks, urban corners, and more, Architecture Through The Body: A Living Legacy highlights the ways dance and architecture have coexisted and evolved together throughout HDD’s history, featuring both public and private spaces as stages for imagination and dialogue.

To close the exhibition, Heidi Duckler Dance will present a site-specific performance on Friday, July 25, 2025, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. The evening will feature dancers Colleen Loverde and Alejandro Perez in a new work choreographed by Artistic Director Raymond Ejiofor, with live music by Pauline Lay. This live performance will bring HDD’s archival journey to life, offering audiences a powerful embodiment of the company’s legacy and ongoing evolution.

Exhibition Details for Calendar Listings
What: Heidi Duckler Dance presents Architecture Through The Body: A Living Legacy
Where: SCI-Arc, Location: 350 Merrick Street, Los Angeles, CA (between Traction Avenue and 4th Street)
Who: Heidi Duckler Dance
When: Friday July 18th (7:00PM - 9:00PM) and Friday July 25th (7:00PM - 9:00PM)

Opening Event + Panel Discussion: Friday July 18th (7:00PM - 9:00PM)
7:00 pm - Opening Exhibit. Reception with refreshments
8:00 pm - Panel Discussion moderated by Maristella Casciato, architectural historian serving as Senior Curator and Head of Architecture Special Collections at the Getty Research Institute

Closing Event + Performance: Friday July 25th (7:00PM - 9:00PM)
7:00 pm- Closing Exhibit. Reception with refreshments
8:00 pm - Performance with live music and dance

Cost:
Early bird tickets are $10 for general admission and $25 for admission with refreshments through July 10. Starting July 11, all tickets will include refreshments and be $25.
RSVP
https://heididuckler.org/event/heidi-duckler-dance-presents-architecture-through-the-body-a-living-legacy/
https://heididuckler.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F21143
About Heidi Duckler Dance
Heidi Duckler Dance creates site-specific performances that transform nontraditional spaces into worlds of movement and imagination. Founded in 1985, HDD has produced over 500 original works across Los Angeles and around the globe, challenging audiences to experience architecture and storytelling in bold, unexpected ways.
The company is rooted in principles of freedom, community, and inclusivity, and continues to engage diverse communities through performances, education, and collaborations that reimagine how and where dance happens.
Visit www.heididuckler.org for more information.

Bios:
Maristella Casciato - Maristella Casciato is a distinguished architectural historian and curator, currently serving as Senior Curator and Head of Architecture Special Collections at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. With a career that bridges scholarship and curatorial practice, she has taught architectural history at institutions including the University of Bologna, the University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” and as a visiting lecturer at Harvard, MIT, and Princeton. Her research focuses on 20th-century European architecture, modernist planning in postcolonial contexts, and the conservation of the recent past, with a particular emphasis on the work of Pierre Jeanneret in Chandigarh. Casciato has held numerous prestigious fellowships, including a Fulbright and a Mellon Senior Fellowship at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, where she later served as Associate Director of Research. She chaired Docomomo International from 2002 to 2009 and has curated several influential exhibitions, including Bauhaus Beginnings, The Metropolis in Latin America, and Casablanca Chandigarh: Reports on Modernization. Her publications include co-edited volumes such as Rethinking Global Modernism and Casablanca Chandigarh, contributing significantly to the discourse on global architectural modernism. Through her work at the Getty, Casciato continues to advance critical understanding and accessibility of modern architectural archives.

Brenda Levin - Brenda  Levin, is a celebrated Los Angeles–based architect and champion of historic preservation. Born in New Jersey in 1946, she studied graphic design at Carnegie Mellon and received a B.S. in Graphic Design from New York University in 1968, before earning her M.Arch from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1976. After graduation, she moved to L.A. in 1976, working for two years under architect John Lautner, then established her firm, Levin & Associates, in 1980. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Levin has led restorations of landmark sites including the Bradbury Building, Griffith Observatory, Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles City Hall, Grand Central Market, Chapman Market, and Dodger Stadium all projects widely credited with igniting Los Angeles’s historic preservation movement. Her firm has also completed notable new-design and adaptive-reuse work on educational campuses (Occidental, Scripps, Whittier, Pitzer), cultural institutions (the Autry and Southwest Museums), and master plans for Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the John Anson Ford Theatre. A recipient of numerous honors, including the 2010 AIA/LA Gold Medal, the 2014 Rose Award from the LA Parks Foundation, and the 2008 USC Parkinson Spirit of Urbanism Award. She was also named 2017 Architectural Angel by Project Restore. In April 2023, the Getty Research Institute acquired Levin & Associates' complete firm archive, underscoring her lasting influence on the urban and cultural landscape of Los Angeles.

Christopher Torres - Chris is an award-winning landscape architect and urban designer passionate about creating a more equitable, resilient and vibrant Los Angeles. He founded Agency Artifact (MBE) as a civic design studio, creating ambitious place making experiences. He is currently leading projects such as the Fairplex Specific Plan with over 10,000 units of housing, the Park Needs Assessment for the future of the 16,000 acre park system in Los Angeles and helped lead the 2,000 acre Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan. He brings over 15 years of both local and international experience designing urban parks, public art, large-scale housing projects and regenerative infrastructure. Prior to founding Agency Artifact, he led projects at top design firms, Walt Disney Imagineering, and the public art program at LA METRO. Chris was a Design Principal at the Jerde Partnership and served as a Vice President. He believes that urban design should be transparent and community-based. Chris is an active public speaker, researcher and educator on topics related to public space and the future of cities. He was a visiting researcher of Urban Design at the Queensland University of Technology, lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at USC, Vice President of the LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, member of Mayor Garcetti’s Great Street’s design advisory committee and served on the Board of Directors of the Landscape Architecture Foundation. He was appointed to serve as Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles- South LA APC. Chris is a Co-Founder of the Festival Trail- a key component of the spatial legacy of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Chris holds a BA in Urban Studies from LMU, Master of Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, and training in Urban Design from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Scott Johnson - Scott Johnson is the Founding Design Partner at Johnson Fain and directs the design of all architectural projects. Educated at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Johnson apprenticed at The Architects’ Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in Los Angeles and San Francisco and Johnson Burgee in New York City. Returning to California, he and his partner, William Fain, assumed the leadership of the William L Pereira organization and, from it, founded Johnson Fain as an international and interdisciplinary design practice. Johnson has been the Director of the Master of Architecture Programs at the University of Southern California and is the author of numerous books on architecture and, more recently, the fine arts. His work has garnered many design awards. Alongside his co-founding partner, William Fain, Johnson is a recipient of the AIA/Los Angeles chapter’s Gold Medal award and has earned recognition as a Fellow of the AIA

Samantha Blake Goodman - Samantha Blake Goodman is an LA based casting director, choreographer, and cultural programmer. Her casting direction spans the contexts of fashion, music, lifestyle, live performance and film As a choreographer her works have been presented by the Getty Museum, MOCA Screen, ICA LA, REDCAT, Navel, LAR (Mexico City) She is the founder of MAPS ( Movement Arts Performance Space) cultivating the contemporary & traditional arts of the Afro-Latinx & Caribbean diaspora in Los Angeles. As a dj aka Muñeka and founder of RAIL UP, she is known for her unique Brazilian Baile Funk sounds with featured mixes on NTS, Boiler Room and Red Bull. She has curated music and film programs as guest curator for the Music Center and Redbull Music Academy. Samantha holds a MFA of Dance from UCLA and studied dance and choreography at the Escola De Dança Da FUNCEB in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Corina Kinnear - Corina Kinnear started her training at her mother’s studio Parker Dance Academy, and then at International Ballet School. She continued in San Francisco, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet and Dominican University, as well as her certification as a Gyrotonic® instructor. Since, she has toured as a freelance artist with companies in New York, Montreal, Colorado, San Francisco, and through Europe. Most recently, Corina splits her time between LA and Europe as both a performer and choreographer, teaching ballet at The Edge Performing Arts Complex and touring internationally teaching workshops and company classes.

SebastianPeters-Lazaro - Sebastian (he/him) is an LA-based interdisciplinary artist, originally from Northern California. In 2008 he co-founded four larks in Melbourne, Australia, focusing on site responsive, immersive performance. Sebastian currently acts as Choreographer, Designer, and Creative Producer with the company, helping facilitate artistic goals within logistical needs. Sebastian recently received 2021 Ovation Awards for both his Scenic Design and Choreography on Frankenstein. Outside of Four Larks, Sebastian is a member of WXPT, a dance company formed by Los Angeles artist Taisha Paggett. WXPT was founded around the idea of using radical pedagogy as a tool to build community, while centering queer folk of color. WXPT was company in residence with Clock Shop at the Bow Tie Project, LACE in Hollywood, and Diverse Works in Houston, TX. As a dancer and movement collaborator, Sebastian has worked with Yu Dance theatre (Taipei/LA), Nicole Klaymoon, and Jasmine Albuquerque among others. Sebastian is a core artistic collaborator of Schema 47, an experimental art and science collective, that partnered most recently with scientists from Caltech, Stanford and JPL to explore the Shadow Biosphere with support from the Templeton Foundation. He also works in art direction for commercial projects, most recently creating an mobile pop-up experience for advertising firm HeLo around Los Angeles. Sebastian holds a degree in cultural studies from the department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, where he is currently lecturing in the Classics department.

Matthew Diafos - Mat Diafos Sweeney / Ματθάιος Διάφως is an Ovation Award winning director, writer, and composer known for creating original music and performance works, primarily with his company four larks. His immersive and genre defying productions, described by NPR as transformative events and praised by the Los Angeles Times as the future of contemporary performance, reimagine mythic narratives through a blend of sound, movement, and image using collaged texts and found objects. Mat’s work explores themes of ecological anxiety, technological alienation, and moral responsibility by revisiting ancient stories to reflect on the present. His notable productions include The Temptation of St Antony, the site specific ritual Katabasis at the Getty Villa, and Frankenstein, which swept the 2021 Ovation Awards. A 2024 Fulbright Scholar in Greece, Mat is currently in residence at Center Theatre Group with support from the National Theatre Project and Los Angeles Performance Practice. He has presented work in venues ranging from museums and concert halls to abandoned industrial sites and has held fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Bogliasco. His research into ancient ritual and contemporary performance has been shared through lectures at UCLA, CalArts, the Athens Conservatoire, and international conferences. Recent collaborations include premieres with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, with upcoming performances at the Kauffman Center and the Kansas City Symphony. Based in downtown Los Angeles, Mat lives and works on the traditional and unceded territory of the Gabrielino Tongva and Chumash peoples.

Raymond Ejiofor - Raymond Ejiofor is a Gates Millennium Fellow and earned a Master of Public Health Policy from USC and his B.S. in Decision Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Raymond began his training under Judith Rhodes Calgaro in Arlington, VA, and at the Dance Theater of Harlem. Under the direction of Greer Reed, Ejiofor was a founding member of the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (AWCDE), which was named “25 to Watch” in 2012 by Dance Magazine. Ejiofor has danced and created works with Daniel Ezralow, Ryan Heffington, Chole Arnold, Aszure Barton, Lula Washington, Bryan Arias, Danielle Agami, Sidra Bell, Kyle Abraham, and Robert Battle. Ejiofor currently collaborates with various companies, including Ezralow Dance, LA Opera, Post: Ballet, and David Roussève/REALITY. Some of his credits include the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, MTV VMAs, American Music Awards, Audi, Hermès, Samsung, Apple, Beijing Dance Festival, and Lincoln Center: David H. Koch Theater. He has performed with artists such as P!NK, Sia, Katy Perry, Pharrell, Dua Lipa, The Weekend, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Daft Punk. He has worked on various major motion pictures, including Spirited, Bad Hair, and 80 For Brady, as well as TV shows like the Late Late Show with/ James Corden, Physical, and the Emmy-winning episode of Love Death + Robots. Choreography commissions include Heidi Ducker Dance, August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar. His choreography can be seen in film and music videos for artists such as Little Boots, Robot Koch, GirlvBoy, and Oddnesse. Ejiofor also served as a choreography consultant for the Paper Doll Militia, touring aerial production “Warped”. Ejiofor was the 2023 Artist in Residence with Heidi Duckler Dance serving as a choreographer, curator, and collaborating creative producer for the organization. Currently, Ejiofor is the Artistic Director of Heidi Duckler Dance.

Colleen Loverde - Colleen Loverde is a dance artist, creator, teacher, explorer and questioner. She was born and raised in Lake Zurich, IL, and received her B.F.A. in Modern & Jazz Dance at Point Park University where she was awarded Outstanding Senior Dance Artist in 2017. Colleen’s work is informed by the recognition that everything is connected and there is infinite wisdom to be uncovered within these connections. The intention of building awareness and cultivating balance between the interplay of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energies is inherent in her process.Colleen has performed with LED Boise, Heidi Duckler, Open Space, Post: Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, and on a variety of multidisciplinary projects. She has had the opportunity to perform works by choreographers Ihsan Rustem, Wen Wei Wang, Felix Landerer, Patrick Delcroix, Lauren Edson, Heidi Duckler, Luca Veggetti, Franco Nieto, Noelle Kayser, Johannes Wieland, Michaela Taylor, Shannon Gillen, Ryan Mason, Alice Klock, Luke Murphy, Gregory Dolbashion, MADBOOTS, Garfield Lemonius, Alexandra Damiani, Patrick O’Brien and herself.

Alejandro Perez - Alejandro Perez is a first-generation Mexican-American from Los Angeles, California, wherein he has been a tangible presence in the dance community and beyond, first seen performing internationally in a street dancing crew. He has been a dancer and a collaborator with Sidra Bell NYC, ISHIDA Dance, Dawsondancesf, Heidi Duckler Dance, Mike Tyus & Co, in addition to other companies throughout the United States. In recent years Alejandro has focused primarily on teaching opportunities. He has created and set works on California School for the Arts, LINES Ballet Training/Summer Program, for Youth America Grand Prix, and Joffrey Ballet Academy Training Program/Studio Company for winning Works 2025.

Pauline Lay - Pauline is a violinist, solo artist, improviser and a long-standing music events curator/organizer based out of Los Angeles. She performs solo improvised pieces with acoustic and electronic instruments. Her latest recording "Alloy / Pulp" was released by Japanese tape label Heavy Mess. She also frequently collaborates with fellow LA musicians in a multitude of contexts, from duets to her piece "5x5," a composition for 25 synthesizers.
For additional information, reach out to victoriam@heididuckler.org

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