Last night, an act of true bravery occurred: despite Covid, despite the thick layer of toxic smoke that covered the entire metro area, Benjamin Millepied's LA Dance Project premiered their series of Drive in Dances with Bobbi Jene Smith's -- in collaboration with Or Schraiber-- Solo at Dusk, a second time, in my experience, of dance being presented in a parking lot. The first was Benjamin's very engaging Romeo and Juliet at the Hollywood Bowl last summer which ranged throughout the open air theater to the stacked parking lots that surround the Bowl.

This was different. Smith and Schraiber who both have some Batsheva roots in their bios took 7 dancers and in a fusion of ritualistic, animalistic, futuristic and ballroom choreography made magic on a purple carpet outside the rear of the LADP studios. Nine cars are permitted at each performance (two different series over the next weeks) and even as some patrons drank wine and ate their dinners in their hermetically sealed cars, there was still an intense hush over the space as the electric lights made for some serious Gregory Crewdson-style imagery. A record provided the original score by Alex Somers (you could listen on your radio or crack the window) and the huge flowered masks by Janie Taylor who also did the costumes and danced gave the production a futher nudge into surrealism. Solos alternated with pas de deux and jittery, frantic group movements, almost chimpanzee-like which reminded me of the apocalyptic juxtapositions in 2001, A Space Odyssey, and then of Lord of the Flies. Yet moments of prayer were interspersed. We have reverted to animalistic behaviors, staying with our own kinds, hiding out in our dens, fearful yet hopeful. At the end of the 35 minute piece (there are two shows a night) we are encouraged to honk our horns instead of clapping. The dancers are my heroes. Go to their website for further details. Don't miss it if you still can get a parking spot.