You may have come across Madeline Hollander’s dances at the most recent Whitney Biennial in New York City or seen her handiwork in Jordan Peele’s movie “Us” – she choreographed Lupita Nyong’o’s creepy ballet moves.
If you haven’t, keep your eyes open – Hollander’s ubiquitous dances are probably unlike anything else you have seen before. Cement mixers and beach-rake trucks have been involved. And, in last year’s “New Max,” for example, four dancers worked up a sweat to raise the temperature of the room from 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with four air conditioning units fighting them at every turn.
Her most recent piece and her first for a proscenium stage, “Five Live Calibrations,” debuted in Paris in October and then traveled to Los Angeles by way of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Aino Frilander asked Hollander about the place where dance and science meet.
“Five Live Calibrations” was staged at the L.A. Dance Project’s L.A. Dances festival from November 14th to 24th. The header image is by Laurent Philippe.