Victoria Brown and Sarah Rodenhouse, artistic directors of MashUp, launched their contemporary dance company this past January, and already they’re making moves from Los Angeles to New York with their "Science" tour. Support fresh, young dance in Los Angeles and check out their debut show.



How did MashUp start?

Victoria and Sarah: We met a few years ago while performing in a small dance group in L.A. and became friends right away. We both had been auditioning and taking class in L.A. for a while before we started talking about starting a company. We both recognized each other’s talents and even though we are young, we figured why not go for it now if it’s what we want?! So we formed MashUp in January of this year.



What is MashUp?

MashUp is a group of strong female dancers that have a passion for performing. The choreography holds a strong ballet technique base, while still embracing the commercial aspect of dance that is so prevalent in Los Angeles. We appreciate other art forms and are excited to integrate them into our shows. Basically, we have fun encouraging and acknowledging the amount of talent in L.A.



Tell us about the "Science" tour.

SCIENCE is our first full-length show! We had our first dress rehearsal the other day, and seeing it all come together was amazing. We are taking all the different forms of science and presenting our own interpretation of them through artistic expression. MashUp’s first short dance film that was created in partnership with Farm Fresh Entertainment will have its premier screening during "Science."

There will also be artwork, photography and live musical performances. Audiences will have a chance to purchase some of the artwork and music featured in "Science" before and after the show. It’s going to be really fun. The debut will be in L.A. and then "Science" hits New York City and Rochester, N.Y.



How would you describe the dance scene in Los Angeles?

The dance scene in Los Angeles is mostly commercial based. A lot of music videos, films and commercials come out of this region, which is where many dancers earn a living. There are, however, a limited number of dance companies, particularly contemporary dance companies, in Los Angeles.

We hope that MashUp will help merge both the commercial and artistic sides of this city while showing the world what incredibly talented dancers Los Angeles has. There is so much talent and there are so many inspiring choreographers and dancers in this city. We are happy to be a part of this industry and hope we bring something unique to the contemporary dance world.



How do you scout for new dancers?

In order to find dancers, we hold auditions. Our first audition was in January and it was such a great success that we had a hard time picking dancers for the company. If you go to our Web site you can see a video of our first audition. We encourage dancers to e-mail us if they’d like to know about auditions.



What is the best part about being a dancer?

The best part about being a dancer is the fact that we get to do what we love on a daily basis. Not to mention it’s a great workout!



What are some of the highlights/successes of MashUp so far?

We’ve been very blessed to have not only a lot of amazing dancers involved in the company, but also some incredible artists that share their talents. We are sincerely looking forward to our first show and hope that it will be a success.



Talk about your future goals.

We hope to take MashUp to more cities and, eventually, countries to share our unique visions and talented artists.



Barnsdall Theatre is located at 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information, visit mashupdance.com.