The Visions and Voices performance will mark Bereishit Dance Company’s Los Angeles debut. (Photo/Hayim Heron)
USC Visions and Voices announces 2024-25 lineup
“Visions and Voices opens your eyes to what the world is,” one student coordinator says of the USC arts and humanities series.
Near the beginning of her first year at USC as an engineering major, Farrah Diogene attended the musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles to decompress from her academic workload.
The musical was part of USC Visions and Voices, a series of arts and humanities events held throughout each academic year. The musical dazzled Diogene, inspiring her to change her major from engineering to film and television production — and to become a USC Visions and Voices student coordinator.
“Visions and Voices opens your eyes to what the world is,” said Diogene, a rising senior at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. “All the people who [participate in] Visions and Voices for conversations, workshops or performances are amazing at what they do. It’s an incredible experience, and everyone should [go] at least once.”
Started in 2006, USC Visions and Voices is a universitywide arts and humanities initiative featuring performances and presentations. Many of the events are organized by USC faculty and feature acclaimed artists and distinguished speakers. The initiative aims to provide a transformative, provocative experience for all USC students, challenging them to expand their perspectives and become engaged citizens.
“I’m really proud of the new season of Visions and Voices,” said Daria Yudacufski, executive director of USC Visions and Voices. “We’ve worked with faculty and the USC arts schools to curate a dynamic and wide-ranging series you can’t experience anywhere else. The events are interdisciplinary and highlight the arts and humanities’ power to unite communities and inspire dialogue and understanding.”
The events, free to all students, are often also free to the public, connecting the university to the greater Los Angeles area as part of USC’s commitment to arts and humanities.
“I love the community and all the great conversations I get to have with the V&V team,” Diogene said. “This season, there are a lot of culturally diverse performances and events.”
Visions and Voices 2024-25 highlights
To learn more and stay up to date with all the events, visit the USC Visions and Voices homepage. This year’s preliminary lineup will have more events added in the coming months; some notable upcoming experiences include:
L.A. premiere of Ghostly Labor by the La Mezcla dance and music ensemble
- When: Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m.
- Where: Bovard Auditorium
First performed at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco last December, Ghostly Labor is the latest work by San Francisco–based dance and music ensemble La Mezcla. It explores the history of labor in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands through polyrhythmic movement and a live original score.
Founded by Dance/USA fellow Vanessa Sanchez in 2015, La Mezcla has roots in Chicana, Latina, and Indigenous traditions and social justice. Using everything from tap dance to Mexican zapateado, son jarocho and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, La Mezcla brings the often-unseen histories and experiences of communities of color to stages, streets and fields.
- When: Kicks off Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. with Duke Ellington… We Love You Madly Screening and Conversation; series continues through March
- Where: Norris Cinema Theatre
The USC Thornton School of Music’s yearlong tribute to Quincy Jones features Jones’s collaborators sharing and discussing their experiences working with the iconic musician, instrumentalist, composer, conductor, arranger, songwriter, music producer, film and television producer, entrepreneur, investor, social activist and philanthropist.
The yearlong series kicks off with a screening of Duke Ellington… We Love You Madly followed by a panel discussion with collaborators of Jones.
At 91 years old, Jones has worked across styles and media through his seven decades of performing, including classical, jazz, pop, R&B and film scoring. While breaking ground for African American achievement in the entertainment industry, Jones has garnered the highest critical and commercial acclaim. This series of panels, screenings, masterclasses, and live music explores, elevates and celebrates Quincy Jones’ life and legacy.
Bereishit Dance Company: Balance & Imbalance / Judo
- When: Sunday, Feb. 23, at 6 p.m.
- Where: Bovard Auditorium
In the latest piece from Seoul-based [or Korea-based] Bereishit Dance Company, Balance & Imbalance, five dancers — accompanied by an ensemble of Korean traditional drummers —partner and hurtle through space to illustrate the constantly turning wheel of opposition and harmony at the heart of all relationships.
The accompanying piece, Judo, explores the idea of sports as a way to control, traverse and transcend humanity’s violent urges.
Known for its fantastic sense of space and rhythms, kinesthetic clarity and power, and approach to Korean traditional culture from a contemporary point of view, the Bereishit Dance Company was founded by director Soon-ho Park in 2011. The company attempts to connect the forms and themes of specific sports and traditional art genres through choreographic works, and this performance marks Bereishit’s Los Angeles debut.
