Using the U.S. government-sanctioned Japanese internment camps during WWII as a dramaturgical framework, The Spectacular Society interweaves evocative movement, live sound, and unconventional spatialization to explore how ethnicity and identity can be negotiated and performed.

This intimate 60-minute performance follows seven dancers through vignettes of calm and chaos as they explore themes of dislocation, witnessing, silence, patriotism, community, and spectacle. Drawing from both historical research and her grandmother’s personal accounts of “camp,” choreographer and CalArts MFA candidate Marissa Osato employs visceral, intricate, and highly-charged contemporary dance movement to re/ present an embodied archive of the past while provoking questions about present societal repetition.

The Spectacular Society runs March 9-10, 2018 at 8:00pm in the Sharon Disney Lund Theater at CalArts.
No intermission, no late seating. Tickets are $2 CalArtians/$10 general admission. Production support provided by the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance and the Office of the Provost at California Institute of the Arts.

For tickets and further information, visit https://calarts.edu/about/news-and-events/events-calendar/event-details/the-spectacular-society or contact the CalArts box office at tickets@calarts.edu or 661-255-1050 between 12pm-8pm M-F. Parking is free in the campus lots and the theater is wheelchair accessible.

About the artist:
A Los Angeles native, Marissa Osato is a choreographer, director, and dance educator who creates emotionally-driven, embodied narratives through a sociocultural lens. Marissa is the co-founder/co-artistic director of the LA-based dance company, Entity Contemporary Dance, which has performed and taught workshops across the U.S. and Asia. Drawing from contemporary, jazz, and street dance techniques, Marissa’s choreography mixes highly charged, virtuosic movement with intricate, precise gestures driven by a rhythmic pulse. Marissa graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of California, Irvine with a B.A. in Dance and B.A. in Literary Journalism, and will complete her M.F.A. in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts in May 2018. Marissa has performed on television shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance, and has worked with musical artists such as Coldplay, Rihanna, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Charice. A passionate educator, Marissa has taught and set choreography at over 40 studios and colleges across the U.S., and has taught master classes in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, Canada, and Guam. Currently, Marissa teaches at EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, tours with the national convention, West Coast Dance Explosion, and co-directs Entity Contemporary Dance. As the 2017 Capezio ACE Awards winners, Marissa and her partner, Will Johnston, will be presenting a new evening length work with their company Entity Contemporary Dance in New York City this summer 2018. marissaosato.com