Luminaries
Mounarath Powell Dance presents “Luminaries” at the MP Dance Performance Space (8674 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, CA 91942) on October 9-17, 2026 @ 7:30pm.
Celebrating its 17th season, Mounarath Powell Dance illuminates the many ways we connect, endure, and believe. With special guest choreographers, who are real life luminaries of San Diego, these works explore the human experience through stories of identity, resilience, power, history, and hope.
The program opens with Jean Isaac’s When Strangers Meet, inspired by the music of Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, explores the evolving connection between two people as strangers become acquainted. Through movement, the duet reflects a journey from curiosity and openness to trust, understanding, and mutual support, revealing how shared experiences can transform an initial encounter into a deeper bond.
Bil Wright brings dance-theatre to the stage where a man relives a life-altering experience with his Haitian grandfather.
A new work by Khamla Somphanh examines the multifaceted meanings of “holding,” framing the body as a site of shifting definitions. These variances mirror our differing perspectives and inform how we move through life.
Todd Mitchum’s I Need Do Nothing is a choreographic duet exploring power, restraint, vulnerability, and the tension between action and surrender. Through connection, resistance, dependence, and control, two bodies navigate systems that shape and restrict movement. At its core, the work asks: when the world demands action, what does it mean to simply be?
Dry Roses was created by Betzi Roe in 1988 for California Ballet’s 25th Anniversary and later became part of the CBC repertoire. Inspired by the women, art, and vintage Russian jazz of the 1920s, the piece captures the era’s changing attitudes toward femininity, morality, and self-expression through movement, gesture, and music.
Rounding out the program is Artistic Director, Powell’s, Believe, originally created in 2012 and now being reset on the company, inviting audiences into a poignant story of hope, resilience, and the enduring power of belief.
Together, these works form a constellation of voices and perspectives, each offering its own light while contributing to a larger portrait of the human experience. Join Mounarath Powell Dance for its 17th season and experience an evening of dance!
