January 31, 2026 at 4pm (additional performance, 7pm show is sold out)
Following two vibrant sold out shows of "MoToRING ON" in February 2025 at Ashkenaz Music &
Dance Community Center in Berkeley, MoToR/dance kicks off its 4th season with a new production "People Are You Ready" and a 3-city tour. MoToR/dance, under the Artistic Direction of Evie Ladin, is an all-female body music ensemble that explores immersive music and dance and audience engagement.
In times of discord and daily outrage, "People Are You Ready" builds connection and community
among artists and audience. Creating their own rich soundtracks, the ensemble performs with no instruments but themselves. Tapping chest, laps, stomping feet, singing in harmony, moving in space, MoToR/dance brings the audience close, as a village square, and engages them to feel. Repertoire spans the emotional range from bombastic to subtle, spiritual to humorous, with the power of a multigenerational ensemble.
Coming from arts traditions that are participatory and communal, into performative contexts, Ladin prefers intimate pop-ups with cellular transmission among performers and audience. "People Are You Ready" is 3/4 in the round, action in the aisles, no sound support save the reverberance of the halls - in architecturally interesting spaces with sprung wood floors and bright acoustics. Body Music in these performative arenas feels personal, like a visceral massage, reflected in robust audience response.
Body Music involves not only body percussion, but melody and harmony, and exists in traditional and contemporary forms in most cultures. Co-founder of the International Body Music Festival with Body Music pioneer Keith Terry, Ladin works to fill a more choreographic approach to the self-scored music. As dance writer Molly Rose-Williams noted, "The performers demonstrate a virtuosic command of the interplay between physicality, rhythm, and musicality."
$15-40.