With guidance from UCLA’s Labor Center, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre spent much of early 2016 filming interviews with the vendors and staff of Central Wholesale Market, the produce market that provides ingredients for many of LA’s hottest restaurants. The Market itself represents something of an LA microcosm: immigrants from the Americas, many African countries, and the Caribbean work alongside lifelong Angelenos, ensuring that restaurants, cafes and homes across the city have the food they need.
At the conclusion of the interviews, HDDT recruited local artists for collaboration. Each selected artist, as well as Duckler and HDDT company dancers, used the interviews as inspiration for new works, which they shared during Night Market. In addition to live dance performances and music, the production included painting, wood burning, weaving and other multi-media installations.
