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Los Angeles may not be thought of as a dance town, but it has a rich legacy. It was here, in 1915, that the modern dance pioneers Ruth St. Denis and her husband Ted Shawn, established the Denishawn school and company<\/a>, shaping and showcasing the first generation of American modern dancers, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman.<\/p>\n Hollywood not only attracted great dancers like Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, but also produced its own constellation of choreographic stars, including Busby Berkeley, Hermes Pan and Jack Cole, as well as drawing big names like George Balanchine<\/a>, who worked on several films. Lester Horton, one of the first choreographers to insist on a racially integrated company<\/a>, established the Lester Horton Dance Theater here in 1946, a pioneering stage dedicated to modern dance.<\/p>\n But for all the talent Los Angeles has attracted over the years, and its success in founding other performing arts institutions, the city has struggled to establish lasting dance companies able to attract and maintain audiences and patronage.<\/p>\n These days, though, several young companies are trying hard to change that.<\/p>\n The L.A. Dance Project<\/a>, co-founded over a decade ago by Benjamin Millepied, the acclaimed choreographer and former New York City Ballet dancer who went on to lead the Paris Opera Ballet<\/a>, is expanding its downtown studio and performance space, doubling its seating capacity. It has also just entered an agreement with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, a larger theater, to perform there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Los Angeles Ballet<\/a>, which debuted in 2006<\/a>, recently appointed its first solo artistic director, Melissa Barak. Barak \u2014 a Los Angeles native who previously founded her own company, Barak Ballet \u2014 is working to increase the company\u2019s dancers, performances, operating budget and repertoire. Two alumni, Petra Conti and Eris Nezha, recently founded their own company, the Hollywood Ballet<\/a>.<\/p>\n The contemporary dance company Bodytraffic<\/a> has begun expanding its reach by performing in a wider array of neighborhoods, and recently brought on a new president: Gillian Wynn, a former music supervisor whose parents, the casino magnates Steve and Elaine Wynn, are both influential art collectors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDance is something I would love to see get more visibility in L.A.,\u201d said Kristin Sakoda, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. \u201cWe have incredible choreographers, dance makers, and artists. It would be great to have more opportunities for dance to be presented.\u201d<\/p>\n By adding L.A. Dance Project \u2014 as well as presenting Bodytraffic and, more recently, the L.A. Ballet \u2014 the Wallis, in Beverly Hills, is \u201ctrying to make a home for dance in West L.A.,\u201d said Robert Van Leer, who last year became its executive director and chief executive officer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDance is really where we have a chance to have a larger impact,\u201d he added, \u201chelping the whole scene to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n The scene has struggled in the past.<\/p>\n The original Los Angeles Ballet, founded in 1974 by John Clifford, a former principal dancer at New York City Ballet, closed after a decade<\/a>. In 1983 the Joffrey Ballet became the resident dance company of the Los Angeles Music Center, but that arrangement lasted less than a decade.<\/p>\n Clifford said that in those days Los Angeles approached dance as something to bring from elsewhere \u2014 attracting leading international companies \u2014 rather than to originate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt more glamorous to import,\u201d he said. \u201cTo bring in a big name company.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But these days there are signs of a growing enthusiasm for dance.<\/p>\n The Glorya Kaufman School of Dance<\/a> at the University of Southern California, which opened in 2015, has attracted prominent choreographers including William Forsythe<\/a> and Kyle Abraham<\/a>. Both the University of California, Los Angeles, and CalArts have active dance programs and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy offers dance classes with students each year performing a popular \u201cHot Chocolate Nutcracker<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The Music Center\u2019s Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance<\/a> program at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this year is presenting Pina Bausch\u2019s \u201cThe Rite of Spring\u201d and \u201ccommon ground[s]\u201d (choreographed by Malou Airaudo and Germaine Acogny) on Feb. 8; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in March; The Joffrey Ballet\u2019s Anna Karenina in June; and Ballet Hisp\u00e1nico\u2019s Do\u00f1a Per\u00f3n in July.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This month, Abraham\u2019s company, A.I.M, will present a program<\/a> at the Wallis that includes a world premiere of Andrea Miller\u2019s latest work. Abraham said he was encouraged by the dance activity in the city from companies like Lula Washington Dance Theater<\/a>, the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company<\/a> and the TL<\/a> founded by Micaela Taylor as well as artists like Kevin Williamson<\/a>, Marcella Lewis and Bret Easterling.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople can use the excuse that the show is on the opposite side of town to not go, but the shows still sell out,\u201d Abraham said. \u201cThere are people who are hungry to support dance.\u201d<\/p>\n It was in part because of the city\u2019s infamous car traffic that the L.A. Dance Project decided to establish a presence on the West Side, at the Wallis.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of people who won\u2019t cross the highway,\u201d Millepied said. \u201cBy being there, we\u2019re going to cultivate another audience.\u201d<\/p>\n While classical music and the opera have long been supported by wealthy families and the art world continues to mushroom, dance in Los Angeles has struggled to build a solid, lasting base of patrons.<\/p>\n \u201cThis concept is still foreign to Angelenos,\u201d said Tina Finkelman Berkett, the artistic director of Bodytraffic. \u201cThey\u2019ve maybe seen a \u2018Nutcracker\u2019 or \u2018So You Think You Can Dance<\/a>,\u2019 but many people have never been to a contemporary dance concert.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is in part the accessibility of Bodytraffic that made Wynn want to immediately become involved with the company after seeing it for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of those love at first sight moments \u2014 how in the world did I miss this company?\u201d Wynn said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to have the opportunity to help grow it and raise the profile. We really want to be known as Los Angeles\u2019 dance company.\u201d<\/p>\n Conti and Nezha \u2014 the husband-and-wife team starting the Hollywood Ballet<\/a> \u2014 want their new company to lean into what the city is most famous for. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we create a new genre that is inspired by the Hollywood movie industry, new productions that will appeal to new audiences that wouldn\u2019t normally go to see a \u2018Sleeping Beauty\u2019?\u201d Conti said.<\/p>\n The company plans to mount productions of new ballets based on famous movies and hopes to \u201cbring back the celebrity of ballet,\u201d Conti said.<\/p>\n Millepied, the artistic director of the L.A. Dance Project, said he hoped the expanded downtown space, which will seat 200 \u2014 along with the Wallis stage \u2014 would enable the company to perform at home more and tour less.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe want to focus on who is here, nurturing that kind of community and creating work that is rooted in what society is expressing right now,\u201d Millepied said. \u201cThen it\u2019s real, then it\u2019s interesting. It captures a moment in time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The region continues to present dancers and choreographers from around the country and the world. Matthew Bourne\u2019s \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d<\/a> just had its North American premiere at the Ahmanson Theater. The Segerstrom Center for the Arts in nearby Costa Mesa, Calif., regularly stages the premieres of works by American Ballet Theater<\/a>. Alonzo King LINES Ballet<\/a>, a San Francisco company, performed there last month. And last fall the New York City Ballet star Tiler Peck brought her original work to the Saroya<\/a>, located on the campus of California State Northridge.<\/p>\n The art world in Los Angeles has also turned its attention to dance. At the Institute of Contemporary Art, the choreographer Chris Emile collaborated with members of the movement-based collective No)one. Art House to present \u201cInfinite Rehearsal<\/a>,\u201d which turned the museum gallery into a performance space. And the Museum of Contemporary Art last fall presented the West Coast premiere of Moriah Evans\u2019 \u201cRemains Persist,\u201d<\/a> in which dancers explored social issues through movement.<\/p>\n Leaders in the field see the growing number of options as an opportunity to make dance a bigger part of the Los Angeles cultural ecosystem.<\/p>\n \u201cThe arts here aren\u2019t easy,\u201d Millepied said. \u201cLet\u2019s gather together. How do we make this happen? How can we help each other?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n