Book Launch: Heidi Duckler Dance: 2016-2021
Free
Join us for a special launch event for Heidi Duckler Dance: 2016-2021, a visual compilation book of the company’s works from 2016-2021 designed by artist James Robie. Heidi Duckler and James Robie will discuss the creation of the book; Heidi and James will sign books; and HDD dancer Edgar Aguirre will perform a short work choreographed by Duckler with live music by Vinny Golia.
Purchase the book here.
Heidi Duckler Dance creates site-specific performances that transform non-traditional spaces, providing learning opportunities and engaging diverse communities, in the belief that the arts can change our vision of the world and of ourselves. The company makes access, diversity and inclusion core components of its mission and its work often explores spatial justice. By utilizing its surrounding environment as a creative source, it promotes civic engagement across generations, inviting residents to examine their communities through a new lens. Heidi Duckler Dance’s work strives to democratize dance, provide innovative arts education, and promote spatial justice.
The company has produced over 400 original works locally, nationally and internationally, in many iconic locations, including: the Ambassador Hotel, LA City Hall, San Gabriel Mission, Los Encinos State Historic Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, The Dunbar Hotel and on the Tall Ships at the Port of LA and in many Southern California areas including: Boyle Heights, Koreatown, North Hollywood, Hollywood, San Pedro, South LA, the Antelope Valley, Culver City, and Santa Monica, amongst others.
Heidi Duckler Dance’s programs reach more than 7,500 individuals each year. Its youth arts education programs, established in 2013, have served over 10,000 youth and families at over 25 schools and community centers throughout Los Angeles county, with an emphasis on low-income communities. All rehearsals and engagement activities take place onsite and culminate in landmark performances tailored to foster community bonds.
Heidi Duckler is the Founder and Artistic Director of Heidi Duckler Dance in Los Angeles, California and Heidi Duckler Dance/Northwest in Portland, Oregon. Titled the “reigning queen of site-specific performance” by the LA Times, Duckler is a pioneer of site-specific place based contemporary practice. Through the use of expanded techniques and a methodology that encourages us to understand how dance, born from our experience, can be a tool for awareness, Duckler has contributed to redefining the field. Duckler was the recipient of the 2021 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship, and her recent film “Where We’re Going” has been selected for first prize by the Cinedanza Festival jury amongst 28 films from around the world.
Duckler earned a BS in Dance from the University of Oregon and an MA in Choreography from UCLA. Awards include the Distinguished Dance Alumna award from the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, the Dance/USA and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Engaging Dance Audiences award, and the National Endowment of the Arts American Masterpiece award. Duckler was also a recipient of the 2019 Oregon Dance Film Commission, and her work received the award for Best Choreography for the Lens at Verve Dance Film Festival.
A graduate of Yale University, James Robie has been involved in graphic design for over fifty years.
Since establishing James Robie Design Associates (JRDA) in 1978, he has developed corporate identity and marketing materials including annual reports and specialized promotional items for ARCO, Allegheny Technologies, The J Paul Getty Trust, TRW, Ernest Hahn Company, The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Lockheed Martin, Manning Selvege and Lee, Northrop Grumman, Teledyne Technologies, William Mercer, Los Angeles Convention Center, PIMCO, Pacific Coast Capital, LA84 Foundation and Cathay Bank.
His work has appeared in numerous magazines including CA, Print, Abitare and has been included in many design books including Graphic Design: Los Angeles and Hot California Designers, and Design USA and Design USA 3, both published by Graphis.
Besides graphic design, his paintings, sculpture and photography have been exhibited around the country and he was honored in 2011 with a 40-year retrospective exhibition of both his graphic design work and fine art at the Cal State University Northridge Art Gallery in Southern California.
Edgar Aguirre is originally from Guatemala City, Guatemala and grew up most of his life in Redwood City, California. He graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2019 with a BFA in Dance Performance. Edgar is most proud of having danced in Donald McKayle’s Étude Ensemble (2016 -2018). Edgar was awarded the Donald McKayle Scholarship in 2019. Upon graduation, Edgar danced with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Denver, Colorado (2019 - 2021). He toured nationally and internationally, was a restaging assistant for Donald McKayle’s Crossing The Rubicon, Passing The Point of No Return and choreographed two original works for the company. Edgar is now based in California where he has been working as a freelance dance artist and choreographer between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Edgar is currently a guest artist with Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Robert Moses’ Kin, Heidi Ducler Dance, Contra-Tiempo Activist Dance Theater and David Herrera Performance Company. In addition, Edgar has presented his choreography at various festivals and showcases in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Denver, CO and Orlando, Fl. As a Guatemalan born, Latin American dancer and choreographer, Edgar feels a cultural responsibility and desire to highlight the voices and experiences of the Latinx community; furthermore, uplift the voices of the BIPOC community. In conjunction with his dance career, Edgar has also embarked on the field of body work. Edgar is passionate about fitness and wellness and is certified to provide one-on-one assisted stretching and is also a certified Pilates instructor. He enjoys working with clients and providing them with the support that they need in order to improve their bodies and achieve their goals.
As a composer, Vinny Golia fuses the rich heritage of Jazz, contemporary classical and world music into his own unique compositions. Also a bandleader, Golia has presented his music to concert audiences in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States in ensembles varying dramatically in size and instrumentation. Mr. Golia has won numerous awards as a composer, including grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, The Lila Wallace Commissioning Program, The California Arts Council, Meet the Composer, Clausen Foundation of the Arts, Funds for U.S. Artists and the American Composers Forum. In 1982 he created the on-going 50 piece Vinny Golia Large Ensemble to perform his compositions for chamber orchestra and jazz ensembles.
A multi-woodwind performer, Vinny’s recordings have been consistently picked by critics and readers of music journals for their yearly “ten best” lists. In 1990 he was the winner of the Jazz Times TDWR award for Bass Saxophone. In 1998 he ranked 1st in the Cadence Magazine Writers & Readers Poll and has continually placed in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for Baritone & Soprano Saxophone. In 1999 Vinny won the LA Weekly’s Award for “Best Jazz Musician”. Jazziz Magazine has also named him as one of the 100 people who have influenced the course of Jazz in our Century. In 2006 The Jazz Journalists Association honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. 2013 Vinny won the Downbeat Critic’s Poll in the “New Star” category for Baritone Saxophone.
Purchase the book here.
Heidi Duckler Dance creates site-specific performances that transform non-traditional spaces, providing learning opportunities and engaging diverse communities, in the belief that the arts can change our vision of the world and of ourselves. The company makes access, diversity and inclusion core components of its mission and its work often explores spatial justice. By utilizing its surrounding environment as a creative source, it promotes civic engagement across generations, inviting residents to examine their communities through a new lens. Heidi Duckler Dance’s work strives to democratize dance, provide innovative arts education, and promote spatial justice.
The company has produced over 400 original works locally, nationally and internationally, in many iconic locations, including: the Ambassador Hotel, LA City Hall, San Gabriel Mission, Los Encinos State Historic Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, The Dunbar Hotel and on the Tall Ships at the Port of LA and in many Southern California areas including: Boyle Heights, Koreatown, North Hollywood, Hollywood, San Pedro, South LA, the Antelope Valley, Culver City, and Santa Monica, amongst others.
Heidi Duckler Dance’s programs reach more than 7,500 individuals each year. Its youth arts education programs, established in 2013, have served over 10,000 youth and families at over 25 schools and community centers throughout Los Angeles county, with an emphasis on low-income communities. All rehearsals and engagement activities take place onsite and culminate in landmark performances tailored to foster community bonds.
Heidi Duckler is the Founder and Artistic Director of Heidi Duckler Dance in Los Angeles, California and Heidi Duckler Dance/Northwest in Portland, Oregon. Titled the “reigning queen of site-specific performance” by the LA Times, Duckler is a pioneer of site-specific place based contemporary practice. Through the use of expanded techniques and a methodology that encourages us to understand how dance, born from our experience, can be a tool for awareness, Duckler has contributed to redefining the field. Duckler was the recipient of the 2021 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship, and her recent film “Where We’re Going” has been selected for first prize by the Cinedanza Festival jury amongst 28 films from around the world.
Duckler earned a BS in Dance from the University of Oregon and an MA in Choreography from UCLA. Awards include the Distinguished Dance Alumna award from the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, the Dance/USA and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Engaging Dance Audiences award, and the National Endowment of the Arts American Masterpiece award. Duckler was also a recipient of the 2019 Oregon Dance Film Commission, and her work received the award for Best Choreography for the Lens at Verve Dance Film Festival.
A graduate of Yale University, James Robie has been involved in graphic design for over fifty years.
Since establishing James Robie Design Associates (JRDA) in 1978, he has developed corporate identity and marketing materials including annual reports and specialized promotional items for ARCO, Allegheny Technologies, The J Paul Getty Trust, TRW, Ernest Hahn Company, The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Lockheed Martin, Manning Selvege and Lee, Northrop Grumman, Teledyne Technologies, William Mercer, Los Angeles Convention Center, PIMCO, Pacific Coast Capital, LA84 Foundation and Cathay Bank.
His work has appeared in numerous magazines including CA, Print, Abitare and has been included in many design books including Graphic Design: Los Angeles and Hot California Designers, and Design USA and Design USA 3, both published by Graphis.
Besides graphic design, his paintings, sculpture and photography have been exhibited around the country and he was honored in 2011 with a 40-year retrospective exhibition of both his graphic design work and fine art at the Cal State University Northridge Art Gallery in Southern California.
Edgar Aguirre is originally from Guatemala City, Guatemala and grew up most of his life in Redwood City, California. He graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2019 with a BFA in Dance Performance. Edgar is most proud of having danced in Donald McKayle’s Étude Ensemble (2016 -2018). Edgar was awarded the Donald McKayle Scholarship in 2019. Upon graduation, Edgar danced with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Denver, Colorado (2019 - 2021). He toured nationally and internationally, was a restaging assistant for Donald McKayle’s Crossing The Rubicon, Passing The Point of No Return and choreographed two original works for the company. Edgar is now based in California where he has been working as a freelance dance artist and choreographer between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Edgar is currently a guest artist with Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Robert Moses’ Kin, Heidi Ducler Dance, Contra-Tiempo Activist Dance Theater and David Herrera Performance Company. In addition, Edgar has presented his choreography at various festivals and showcases in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Denver, CO and Orlando, Fl. As a Guatemalan born, Latin American dancer and choreographer, Edgar feels a cultural responsibility and desire to highlight the voices and experiences of the Latinx community; furthermore, uplift the voices of the BIPOC community. In conjunction with his dance career, Edgar has also embarked on the field of body work. Edgar is passionate about fitness and wellness and is certified to provide one-on-one assisted stretching and is also a certified Pilates instructor. He enjoys working with clients and providing them with the support that they need in order to improve their bodies and achieve their goals.
As a composer, Vinny Golia fuses the rich heritage of Jazz, contemporary classical and world music into his own unique compositions. Also a bandleader, Golia has presented his music to concert audiences in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States in ensembles varying dramatically in size and instrumentation. Mr. Golia has won numerous awards as a composer, including grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, The Lila Wallace Commissioning Program, The California Arts Council, Meet the Composer, Clausen Foundation of the Arts, Funds for U.S. Artists and the American Composers Forum. In 1982 he created the on-going 50 piece Vinny Golia Large Ensemble to perform his compositions for chamber orchestra and jazz ensembles.
A multi-woodwind performer, Vinny’s recordings have been consistently picked by critics and readers of music journals for their yearly “ten best” lists. In 1990 he was the winner of the Jazz Times TDWR award for Bass Saxophone. In 1998 he ranked 1st in the Cadence Magazine Writers & Readers Poll and has continually placed in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for Baritone & Soprano Saxophone. In 1999 Vinny won the LA Weekly’s Award for “Best Jazz Musician”. Jazziz Magazine has also named him as one of the 100 people who have influenced the course of Jazz in our Century. In 2006 The Jazz Journalists Association honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. 2013 Vinny won the Downbeat Critic’s Poll in the “New Star” category for Baritone Saxophone.
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