ENCINITAS – For the third consecutive year, North County dance company LITVAKdance is celebrating various dancing styles by showcasing a slate of international and local choreographers with an upcoming performance in Encinitas.
Dancing Outdoors Take 3 will be held at 8 p.m. on July 20 at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego North featuring choreographers from Israel, Mexico, and Encinitas.
After starting the five-member contemporary dance company out of UC San Diego in 2018, Sadie Weinberg has continued to serve as the group’s artistic director.
“I started the company for several reasons, but one of the reasons was that I was teaching at Palomar and MiraCosta, and I still do,” Weinberg said. “There was just a great group of young dancers that we’re looking for a way to keep dancing after they graduated, but didn’t necessarily want to move to New York or places where there are more prominent companies. I’ve been committed to North County and wanted to focus on creating something to serve our community here.”
While creating this company, Weinberg said it was essential to showcase different artistic directions, not just hers. Last year, Dancing Outside Take 2 was heavily inspired by Latinx and Mexican American voices in the dance world.
This year’s performance will expand upon what LITVAKDance has built in past performances.
“I work hard at really bringing in a diverse kind of set of voices. We’re a repertory company, which means we’re always bringing in new choreographers,” Weinberg said. “We now have three international choreographers, two from Israel and a choreographer from Mexico.”
At Thursday’s Dancing Outdoors Take 3 event, the company will perform “Vortex,” an award-winning duet by Mexican choreographer Zuleima Burrell, an excerpt from a dance titled “Haven” by Israeli choreographer Ido Gidron, and “Unconditional” choreographed by Encinitas resident Nick McGhee in his first work for the company.
The company will also host two out-of-state companies, PUSH FOLD from Portland, Oregon, and Khambatta Dance Company from Seattle, Washington, who will perform dances from their studios. Further, live music will be performed by The Montalban Quintet of Encinitas.
According to Weinberg, each performance is supposed to leave the audience in awe and deep thought.
“It’s very much a destination and experience for the audience to reach, not just watching the dancing overall,” Weinberg said.
In light of a recent fatal e-bike collision in Encinitas, Weinberg has included a segment in the performance to allow guests to ask for changes to local roads and cycling laws.
“I am grappling with the impact LITVAKdance has on our community and what my responsibility is to my community as not only a dancemaker but as a mother, wife, aunt, daughter, sister, niece, and grandmother of Encinitas residents and North County community members,” Weinberg said. “Less than a mile from here, on this very road, a teenager was killed on his e-bike, and this tragedy brings the urgency in which we need to make changes to the infrastructure of our streets to provide safer passage not just for our young people, but for all people that wish to travel by other means than a car.”
During an intermission after the performance of “Triad,” Weinberg has arranged a spot for guests to write down their hopes, wishes, and commitments to the community. There will also be a petition asking the cities of Encinitas, Carlsbad and San Diego to continue to build safer roads for bikes and pedestrians.
As last year’s show was jampacked with attendees, Weinberg recommends getting tickets before they sell out. Tickets can be purchased on LITVAKdance’s website before Thursday evening.