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CONTRA-TIEMPO is a non-profit, Los Angeles based, activist dance company, founded and directed by Ana Maria Alvarez. CONTRA-TIEMPO is dedicated to transforming the world through dance. Our unique Urban Latin Dance Theater brings to life voices that are not traditionally heard on the concert stage. We build community, facilitate dialogue and move youth to imagine what is possible in the world.
The company fuses Salsa, Afro-Cuban, West African, Hip-Hop, and abstract dance-theater, to create an invigorating blend of physically intense and politically astute performance. While their performances are consistently electrifying, what sets the company apart most is its unique relationship to its own community. CONTRA-TIEMPO is, much like the community it reaches, a tapestry. CONTRA-TIEMPO is an active and uncompromisingly radical take on the ways in which artists function within communities. Its company members, professional dancers and artists, are also immigrants, teachers, activists, organizers and movers of all types living and working in Los Angeles. Each member lives and struggles within the varied and infinitely complex political and personal landscapes, which Ana María seeks to address in her work.
Resident composer, César Alvarez, a founding member of the company, approaches the music for the group as if it were a new genre. CONTRA-TIEMPO's movement narrative calls for a complete rebuilding of "dance music" using a sonic vocabulary as far-reaching and diverse as the company members' backgrounds. In CONTRA-TIEMPO's performances César deconstructs salsa, collaging |
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Americana with hip-hop, poetry with clave, industrial and found sound with the powerful rhythmic traditions of the African Diaspora.
The company has several large-scale performance works, many shorter pieces, as well as community arts workshops for adults and young people that have been and continue to be presented in and around Los Angeles and abroad. CONTRA-TIEMPO’s work has been shared all over California, New York, Washington D.C., North Carolina, Georgia, Washington State, Arizona, Mexico, Puerto Rico and most recently Cuba.
For teens and pre-teens, the company's workshops address social, political and race issues through movement and through traditional cultural dance forms. For younger audiences workshops focus on how the body can be used as a tool for communication. It is CONTRA-TIEMPO's interest to create work that can be meaningful and enjoyed by a broad range of audiences regardless of age, class, race or politics. The company is dedicated to working with under served populations of young people, in particular communities of color. CONTRA-TIEMPO's commitment is to create dialogue and greater understanding across populations, in particular around issues of resistance and power. By doing this, CONTRA-TIEMPO is contributing to the development of more self reflective, socially and politically engaged and culturally responsible artists and communities!
" The new face of Los Angeles dance, and the new voice as well." – Lewis Segal, Los Angeles Times
“A performance that moves beyond just dance, but expresses with its movements the strength of the Latino community in their struggle as they live in a country that is not their own."
"Alvarez is a rising star of the dance world." - Leonard Jacobs. Backstage, NY, NY |
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• Ana Maria Alvarez - Artistic Director |
After receiving a BA in Dance and Politics from Oberlin College, Alvarez moved to New York where she became the Dance Specialist at The Center for Family Life’s “Lifelines” Community Arts Project in Brooklyn. There she taught, danced and choreographed for several years, before moving to Los Angeles in 2002. Alvarez received her MFA in Choreography from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures, where she currently teaches. Alvarez collaborated with teachers and researchers to create a dance program at UCLA's Lab Elementary School , which became the foundation for CONTRA-TIEMPO's arts education program. CONTRA-TIEMPO is currently partnering with many schools throughout Southern California, integrating dance in their educational curriculum. Alvarez has received numerous awards and recognition from the arts world and beyond, including Brooklyn Arts Exchange's Artist in Progress Award and from The Association of Performing Arts Presenters Emerging Leaders Institute, The Los Angeles City Council District 11, The Durfee Foundation, The Flourish Foundation, Festival Internacional de Teatro de Los Angeles' (FITLA) and Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico, among others. Recognized as a "Rising star of the dance world" (Backstage NY 2002), Alvarez is inspired to continue to develop and share her artistic vision with the world through CONTRA-TIEMPO's dynamic work. |
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• Pamela G Almeida - Dancer/Translator |
Pamela was born and raised in Ecuador and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 15. She has been in love with dance and performance since a very early age. She was also a baton twirler for 3 years and has been a visual artist ever since she discovered drawing at age 5. Pamela began to formally dance at Glendale Community College where she earned a Certificate in Choreography and got exposed to several different dance techniques like ballet, jazz, modern and tap. She had the opportunity to perform and choreograph as a student and alumni for 3 years in their bi-annual dance concerts. Once at UCLA, she earned her BA in Cultural Studies in the Department of World Arts and Cultures, she fell in love with modern dance and discovered Capoeira. Along with her research she also trained in Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Cuban dances; adding so much life to her Salsa and Samba dancing. Pamela strongly believes in the healing power of the arts for they have had a tremendous impact in her journey to self-discovery. She hopes to bring awareness by creating and being a part of work that explores our complexities as human beings. She is thrilled to be part of CONTRA-TIEMPO for the common vision of inspiring and empowering communities. She also enjoys being challenged as a dancer and as a person to redefine what it means to be a leader and a follower on and off the dance floor. |
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• Cesar Alvarez - Founding Member/Composer |
Cesar is a Brooklyn based composer, songwriter, producer and sound artist. He has performed and presented work nationally and internationally in the UK, Scotland, Cuba, Canada, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Czech Republic. César was awarded a Meet The Composer/Van Lier Fellowship for young Latino composers in 2004. He studied at Interlochen Arts Academy, received a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory, and an MFA from Bard College in Music/Sound. In New York, César has presented work at The Stone, Roulette, The Tank, Joe's Pub, The Zipper Factory, Here Arts Center, and at Dance New Amsterdam. He's been performing and touring with his band The Lisps for over three years. The Lisps have been featured by NPR, Spin, Time Out New York, CMJ, and included as one of L Magazine's "8 NYC Bands to Watch," in 2008. In addition to composing for CONTRA-TIEMPO, César recently debuted his sci-fi Civil War musical for The Lisps, FUTURITY. He teaches recording and electronic music at Bloomfield College in NJ. César's blog/website can be found at www.musicisfreenow.org. |
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• Jasmine Burgos - Dancer/Teaching Artist |
Jasmine was born in New York City and raised in Tampa, Florida. At the age of 18, she discovered the world of dance. Jasmine entered her first ballet class at the University of South Florida. Years later, she graduated with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance from the University of Tennessee. While living in Tennessee, Jasmine booked her first job as a back up dancer for Grammy Nominated & Dove Award Winning Artist Nicole C. Mullen. In 2004, Jasmine moved to Los Angeles to pursue more opportunities in the entertainment capital. In doing so, she became part of the Debbie Reynolds Scholarship Program, worked with several L.A. Salsa & Hip Hop Companies and danced with various artists, including Out of Eden, Mexican sensations Marilyn Fernandez & Huiecho Dominguez. Jasmine's ultimate goal is to provide her community with quality dance training and share various forms artistic expression with young people. She is extremely honored to be apart of CONTRA-TIEMPO and proud to be a part of their mission and commitment to the community. |
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• Michael Butler - Dancer/Teaching Artist |
Michael is a native of Brooklyn, NY, where spent most of his life. He started dancing at the age of six with the New York-based Chosen One's Dance Company. At the age of sixteen, his family relocated to Charleston, SC, where he completed his secondary education. While in Charleston, S.C., Michael successfully produced numerous dance shows and founded a first place performance team. After high school, Michael continued his dancing career and enrolled at Shaw's Model and Talent Agency in Columbia, SC. While there, he studied hip-hop, tap, ballet, acting and modeling. Michael then attended Radford University in Virginia, where he studied Business Administration and Fine Arts. Michael combined his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for dance and founded A Step In Time Dance Studio, Inc., a place where young people would also come to study, relax, and develop personally. He was featured in the 2007 film Stomp the Yard. Business and professional opportunities brought Michael to Jacksonville, FL, a city he later discovered to be an ideal market to expand his studio ventures. After receiving an overwhelming interest from members of the local community, Michael opened A Step In Time Dance Studio, Inc in the Clay County area, where enrollment continues to grow. Michael currently lives in Hollywood, CA, where he continues to refine himself as an actor, model, and dancer. He is currently coaching with world-renowned rhythm champions, and he trains at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome”- Booker T. Washington |
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• Sarah Culberson - Company member |
Sarah Culberson grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia. As a young biracial woman, she always knew she was adopted. A year after her birth she was brought into the home of a loving white family from West Virginia and was raised in the United States –with no knowledge of the birth parents that had given her up. Eventually, Sarah grew curious about her past. When she found out that her white birth mother was dead, she later hired a private investigator to track down her biological father. She discovered her birth father was a descendant of African royalty. She won an acting scholarship to attend West Virginia University where she earned a B.A. in theater. She graduated from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco with a Masters in Fine Arts and joined the Los Angeles acting community. Sarah has acted on the stage as well as in TV and films. As co-founder of the Kposowa Foundation in Los Angeles, she leads fundraising efforts with the goal of improving the lives of people in Sierra Leone by rebuilding schools, digging wells, and connecting students internationally through educational projects. In collaboration with Tracy Trivas, Sarah recently completed an autobiographical memoir called A PRINCESS FOUND (St. Martin’s Press; July 07, 2009; $25.95) - A PRINCESS FOUND is a powerfully emotional memoir of an adopted woman who travels across the world to meet her long lost biological father who survived the brutal 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone. Sarah joined CONTRA-TIEMPO in 2006. She lives in Los Angeles, California. |
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• Batyah Freedman- Dancer |
Batyah Freedman was born in Eugene Oregon. She has been in love with dance for as long as she can remember and began dancing at a very young age. Her dance 'career' began when she used to hold weekly dance "concerts" in the family living room. She soon danced her way out of her living room, and at age 15, she moved to New York on a dance scholarship to study at the Joffrey school of Ballet. In 2007 Batyah graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Dance and Performance from the University of Arizona. Some of the choreographers and companies she has had the opportunity to perform and work with include Douglas Nielsen, Margo Van Ummerson Dance company, Rita Honka, OTO Dance, New ARTiculations, Merce Cunningham student ensemble, Naked Rhythm and Collage Dance Theatre. In November of 2009, she moved to Los Angeles to further her career in dance, and to be closer to her family. Batyah is thrilled and honored to be a part of CONTRA-TIEMPO. |
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• Cesar Garfiaz - Founding Member/Dancer/Teaching Artist |
Cesar was born and raised in Los Angeles , CA (Hollywood). He has been hyperactive since early childhood, and has always enjoyed moving. Being partly raised by his aunt, Cesar was influenced by her affinity for Salsa. He began dancing Salsa at the young age of seven, going on Sundays to Steven’s Steakhouse with his Tia Raquel. In high school, he was part of a performing arts class for two years, where he learned of his passion for performing. In 2004 Cesar joined UCLA’s Department of World Arts & Cultures in the Fall of 2004. In the Spring of 2003, Cesar began working and collaborating with Ana Maria Alvarez and was a cast member of her original thesis concert “contra-tiempo”. Over the past seven years he has studied various styles including modern, hip hop, house, tai chi, Ghanaian, Mexican Folklorico & Afro-Cuban. As a part of UCLA’s Repertory Tour Ensemble, Cesar performed and inspired young people in high schools all over Los Angeles. Through his work with Rep Tour, he became passionate about youth arts education, and is continuing this important work with his involvement in CONTRA-TIEMPO. He currently teaches Salsa and Latin Dance at Cal Poly Pamona and at several studios around Los Angeles. As a founding member of the company, he is committed to seeing this group actualize its’ full potential as an agent for change. Cesar is dedicated to being a leader in this important work and sharing with others his absolute love for movement. |
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• Richie Marin - Dancer/Singer/Teaching Artist |
Born in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, but raised in Los Angeles, CA, Richie is a professional choreographer, dancer, actor and singer, and has toured nationally and internationally with both dance and theatre companies. Richie attended the Los Angeles City Theatre Academy where he studied acting extensively. He began his career as a dancer, choreographer and actor by performing in Theatre and Musical Theatre productions such as, West Side Story, Evita, Big River, Sophisticated Ladies, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Cabaret, to name a few. He has choreographed for the Fabulous Monsters Theatre group, Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Programs and the LA Weekly Awards. He was also a finalist in the Irene Ryan awards competition for acting. He has appeared in numerous commercials such as Pep Boys, MGD and Mexico Express. He was a former ballroom dance teacher at Arthur Murray dance center, teaching styles, such as, the Rumba, Salsa, Tango, Merengue, Fox-Trot, Waltz, Two-step, Cha-Cha, Swing, and the Samba. Richie is the founder and owner of Choreography Entertainment , which is an entertainment company that specializes in Quinces, Sweet Sixteens, and Wedding choreography. He feels blessed to be a member of CONTRA-TIEMPO. |
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• Marina Osthoff Magalhães - Administrative Assistant/Stage Manager/Understudy |
Marina Osthoff Magalhães (administrative assistant/stage manager/understudy) fares from Brasília, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Madrid, La Paz, Chicago, and as of recently Los Angeles. The daughter of Brazilian diplomats, Marina traveled and danced all over the world as a young child - studying a number of different forms including jazz, ballet, samba and post-modern dance. She attended the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Intensive, Urban Bush Women Summer Institute and has been awarded numerous dance awards and choreography scholarships. Her current home is UCLA, which she is currently attending under the prestigious International Moss Scholarship majoring in World Arts and Cultures with a Dance Concentration. While at UCLA she participated as a choreographer (twice) and dancer (three times) for the annual WACSmash show, the Bantam Ballet collaboration project, and the Bridge: Choreographer Dialogues Intensive with Israeli Choreographers Ronit Ziv and Barak Marshall. She was also an activist and Facilitator for the student-run organization Student Activist Project and is now becoming an arts educator through the UCLA ArtsBrirdge Scholar program. She began working with CONTRA-TIEMPO as the Administrative Assistant in March of 2007 and could not be more grateful for the opportunities it has provided for her so far- she is eager to continue her work with the company and can't wait to see how far the company will go! She hopes to pursue a career as an arts educator and choreographer in Los Angeles and to someday return to Brazil. |
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• Omar Rodriguez-Diaz - Dancer/Animator/Singer |
Omar studied at the Central High School of Visual Arts in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he was born and raised. In 2002 he earned his bachelor's degree from Pratt Art Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he majored in film and animation. Omar performed with La Alianza, the Latino student organization of Pratt, and also performed in College of the Canyons in California, where he has been studying Flamenco for several years. Omar recently finished his master's degree in experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA (CalArts). His thesis, an animated short film about Salsa, was recently incorporated into CONTRA-TIEMPO’s performing repertoire. He took advantage of Cal Arts’ music and dance department by joining Korean, hip-hop and modern dance classes whenever possible. Omar sang for the school’s Salsa band for a year, utilizing his three years of voice lessons taken while at Pratt. He teaches art at Seeds University Elementary school and sings/performs with musicians whenever he can. Omar joined CONTRA-TIEMPO in January 2006. |
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• Jonathan Lowe- Chair/Board Member |
Jon is a strategic marketing and promotions professional with over ten years experience in creating dynamic and innovative campaigns for sports teams, live events, music artists and consumer products. Approaching his 7th year with sports and live event leader, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), Jonathan has created and executed marketing campaigns for its most prized assets in Los Angeles: STAPLES Center, The Los Angeles Kings and The Home Depot Center, (a $150M venue launched in 2003 that is home to the LA Galaxy). Two years ago, Jonathan shifted his role within AEG to focus on the Kings and currently serves as the Senior Director of Marketing and Promotions for the hockey club. Jonathan’s marketing campaigns and promotions have received regional and national recognition in media outlets including the LA Times, Daily News, Los Angeles Business Journal, Entertainment Tonight, E!News, ABC (Los Angeles), ESPN TV, FoxSports.com and SI.com. In addition, Jonathan has created marketing and promotions campaigns for The Los Angeles Lakers, Ten World Championship Boxing Events, Celine Dion’s Las Vegas Show A NEW DAY, The King Tut Exhibit at LACMA as well as national concert tours with Prince and Rod Stewart, just to name a few. |
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• Heidi Nel- Secretary |
Originally from South Africa, Heidi moved to the states with her family in 1990. Growing up, she could most often be found on stage and in her teen years became more serious about performance art. She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts on scholarship and went on to graduate from North Carolina School of the Arts, Contemporary Dance. Currently Heidi is the marketing manager for Grindstone Entertainment Group and oversees marketing strategies for their annual slate of 30 plus films. Prior to Grindstone, Heidi worked in digital media for Ghost House Pictures, licensing and creating content for multi-platform distribution; there she also co-produced three original series for Comcast’s FEARnet. She is a member of the Media 50 Group/Dewey Square Group joint venture, Dewey Digital, a Web 2.0 company utilizing mobile media for political campaigns, community building, and social change. She has enjoyed working with Dewey clients such as the Democratic National Convention Committee and Sony’s Crackle. Heidi recently produced an educational video series, Kidwinks, designed for children with learning disabilities; she's a contributing writer for the LA based magazine Singular, and a member of Step Up Women’s Network. She is inspired by the work of CONTRA-TIEMPO and honored to have joined the Board of Directors of such a talented and progressive company. |
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• Rigo Garcia- Former Dancer/Software Engineer |
Rigo Garcia was a former dancer with CONTRA-TIEMPO. He toured, performed and taught for the company during 2005-2006. When he is not dancing salsa throughout the LA area he works as a Software Engineer and trains as a Triathlete. Throughout the last couple of years Rigo has helped, supported and advocated for CONTRA-TIEMPO and their important work, and is now proud to serve as a Board Member for the company. |
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• Ashley Fleming - Board Member |
Ashley Fleming was born and raised in Oklahoma. She was a tennis player and began dancing ballet during her last 2 years of high school. Once she left Oklahoma, she never came back. Ashley headed to California, after taking a sabbatical from college at Oklahoma University, to work with her mother in Belize, Central America, on a Peter Weir film: The Mosquito Coast. Soon after, she landed in Berkeley & Oakland, to finish post production for the film. In San Francisco, she studied painting, a decided to move to Santa Barbara. There he discovered modern dance, and got her BA in dance & choreography from University of California in Santa Barbara. She was a Corwin Recipient for Choreography. Ashley studied and worked with Ann Hamilton, a contemporary American installation artist. She then decided to move to Los Angeles where she created work for two years and taught Modern Dance at Los Angeles Community College. Her road then moved in a new direction when her daughter, Macchiati was born, and 16 months later, her son, Wonder came. Ashley was a parent at UCLA Lab's school (where Ana Maria Alvarez teaches) and both children have worked with Ana Maria - learning dance and movement and the joy of physical expression with her. Ashley now fills her days with love overflowing, being a mom, and also enjoys photography. Taking pictures over the last decade has been her passion. |
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• Erika Gonzalez - Board Member |
Born and raised in the southeastern United States, Erika attended University of Pennsylvania for undergraduate school, with a major in African American Studies. She taught elementary school in Manhattan before moving to Los Angeles to work in television production. After a few years, she returned to education, providing supplemental educational programs for LAUSD and teaching at Kaplan International School. More recently, she worked for Walden University, where she also completed her Masters in Education. Fourteen years ago, Erika met her husband, Felipe, taking salsa classes. They’ve been dancing together ever since, though mostly in the living room these days. Currently, Erika takes care of her three children, serves as fundraising chair for their school, and is a lead petitioner in starting a new International Baccalaureate charter school. |
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• Tanya Finks - Board Member |
Tanya Finks grew up in Riverside, California and moved to the Los Angeles area in 1991. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Psychology in 1998 at California State University, Los Angeles, and spent two years as a volunteer paraprofessional mental health counselor at Pasadena Mental Health Center. For the past 13 years, Tanya has worked for the Capital Group Companies, currently as an Administrative Coordinator in the money management department. Additionally, as a Love Consultant with Love Boutique Home Parties, and as a Dating and Relationship Coach, she works with individual clients as well as groups, inspiring and supporting them to experience an abundance of love in their lives, and to enjoy passionate, fulfilling love lives. An avid consumer of personal development, her passion is providing the encouragement, support and inspiration for others to live their best lives today. Tanya is single, but has enjoyed a 32-year love affair with the Los Angeles Lakers. |
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“represents the kind of socially aware contemporary work that only a few dance artists such as Bill T. Jones reliably provide…in heart, mind and soul this is the real thing!” - Los Angeles Times
“an edgy examination of ‘the complexity of resistance and struggle for Latinos in the United States’ and a joyous celebration of community” - San Francisco Bay Guardian
“more than a hip isolating dance ensemble…CONTRA-TIEMPO pushes boundries” – The Washington Post
“Alvarez is a rising star of the dance world.” - Backstage, NYC
“…a fresh-faced, talented dance company from Los Angeles. Fantastic dancing abounds in this piece.” - nyctheatre.com
“A passionately delivered performance communicates the often antagonistic relationships that exist among Latino immigrants to America, as well as the nature of the greater struggles that they face in the new country.” - The Worldly, LA, CA
“Alvarez is a force to be reckoned with” - curtainup.com, NYC
“A joyous performance… comically explores the diversity of Salsa dancing, while also using the dance form to portray the thorny social and political issues facing Latinos in America today!” - BackStage, NYC
“an ensemble in which the women were as likely to lead as the men” – San Francisco Bay Guardian
“the new face of Los Angeles dance, the new voice as well…” – Los Angeles Times
“…un espectaculo que mas alla de ser solo danza expresa con sus movimientos la fuerza de la comunidad Latina en su lucha por vivir en un pais que no es el suyo.” - La Opinion, LA, CA
“a performance that goes beyond being just a dance, it expresses, with its movements, the strength of the Latino community in their struggle as they live in a country that is not their own.” - La Opinion LA, CA (translation)
“…a marvelously energetic and affecting work.” - BackStage, NYC
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