Company member Eugenia Rodriguez. Captured by Mia Harris.
SEED – CONTEMPORARY DANCE MEETS THE ART OF FLOWER ARRANGEMENT
By Anthony Marciona
“SEED” is described in the program as “a multidisciplinary, multilocational, multigenerational performance piece that explores the collision of contemporary dance, projection mapping, and Ikebana – the Japanese art of flower arranging.” As performed by the Entity Contemporary Dance Company and Ikebana master artist Haruko Takeichi, “SEED” examines the ephemerality of beauty and the cycles of fragmentation, destruction, and rebirth within both nature and society.”
“EntityFeatures” Lights Up The James Irvine Japanese Garden at JACCC
By Celine Kiner
Entity Contemporary Dance mounted their first live production in over a year on Friday, opening the show at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center with a softly cathartic live work, then screening a variety of pandemic-borne film commissions. I know we’ve all seen our share of dance on film lately, and I had already seen quite a few of the works via social media. But to see a community come together on land that has housed so many populations and performances made the evening more than worth it.
Company members Eugenia Rodriguez, Vickie Roan, Shiori Kamijo, Grayson McGuire, Jason Martin and Emily Crouch. Captured by Camryn Eakes.
TRANSPARENT/SEE (2019)
Entity Contemporary Dance Debuts Awareness Evoking “Transparent/see: A Continued Conversation”
By Jeff Slayton
On November 22, 2020, I attended the virtual debut of Entity Contemporary Dance’s film Transparent/see: A Continued Conversation and it was clear early on that choreographers Marissa Osato and Will Johnston had taken this work’s subject seriously, done the necessary research, and worked tirelessly to create a powerful art/activist work. The company looked strong and extremely well-rehearsed down to the detail of the repetitive gestures of the guest student ensemble from Chapman College. It was also apparent that great care was taken in the videotaping and editing process.
New Movement Residency: Marissa Osato revisits her “Spectacular Society”
Choreographer Marissa Osato is no stranger to dance in Los Angeles. This year, Entity Contemporary Dance—which she and choreographer Will Johnston co-founded and co-direct—will celebrate its tenth year in the city. Osato’s roots in Southern California, however, reach further back than Entity. She earned her BA in Dance and BA in Literary Journalism from the University of California, Irvine. There, she studied several forms of dance. When she began working as a dancer and choreographer in Los Angeles, she knew she wanted to combine elements of each in her work.
Marissa Osato leading rehearsal during the New Movement Residency | Photo by Mary Mallaney
Entity Contemporary Dance Weaves TRANSPARENT/SEE Making A Statement About Our Commodity-Driven Culture Through Movement
The hard-working contemporary dance company Entity presented a fascinating work that they have based on "The True Cost," a documentary by Andrew Morgan about the garment and fashion industry and the effects of greed, fear, power and poverty it causes in our world.
Through dance and sound, they have constructed a visual imagery of the inner workings of both a "sweatshop" environment, becoming parts of the machinery at times, overworked and working their hands to the bone at a frantic pace, and it then becomes a trying-on party for one very finicky customer, who is meant to signify consumers as a whole.
Art and Life with Marissa Osato
Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Osato. Marissa, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
A Los Angeles County native, I danced competitively for ten years before attending UC Irvine where I double majored in Dance and Literary Journalism. The UCI dance department, as well as the prolific hip-hop dance community in Orange County, strongly influenced my choreographic voice and drive for creating movement art. After graduating, I co-founded Entity Contemporary Dance, an LA-based dance company rooted in a fusion of urban and classical dance techniques that has performed original repertory in the U.S. and Asia…
Entity Contemporary Dance was started in 2009 by Will Johnston and Marissa Osato. The pair met while studying at UCI and they now direct the award-winning, LA-based contemporary dance company. (Photo by Mike Esperanza)
ENTITY CONTEMPORARY DANCE at the Laguna Festival of the Art
Laguna Dance Festival presents free dance performances at the beautiful Festival of Arts grounds this summer! Included with FOA admission, join us for a performance and dance class with ENTITY CONTEMPORARY DANCE.
Founded in 2009, drawing connections between the Southern California hip hop and contemporary dance communities. Based in Los Angeles, CA and directed by Will Johnston and Marissa Osato, Entity is a professional contemporary dance…
Award-winning ENTITY CONTEMPORARY DANCE kicks off Laguna Dance Festival at Art Walk
Eight years ago, UC Irvine dancers Will Johnston and Marissa Osato, both now 30, were holding rehearsals for the newly formed ENTITY CONTEMPORARY DANCE in the middle of the night from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. – sometimes later. The company made its debut performance in 2009 at a dance competition showcase where it appeared among a roster of hip hop dance crews…
Night 2 of the Los Angeles Dance Festival – Urban/Eclectic Contemporary
Night two of the Los Angeles Dance Festival 2017 at the Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz was labeled Urban/Eclectic Contemporary Dance. The program included performances by ENTITY CONTEMPORARY DANCE, BrockusRED, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Pony Box Dance Theatre, LUX Aeterna Dance Company, Akomi Dance and CATASTROPHE. The energy was high and the work, for the most part, strong….Entity Contemporary Dance was founded in 2009 by artistic directors Will Johnston and Marissa Osato. Peel is an intense work with a fusion of hip hop, jazz, contemporary dance and theater. The dance had a ritualistic overtone, beginning with a woman, Emily Crouch, dipping her hands into a glass bowl of “some imagined liquid”…