‘It Gives Us Access To Power and Hope’: Upcoming Sonoma County Performance Highlights Joy as Resistance

‘It Gives Us Access To Power and Hope’: Upcoming Sonoma County Performance Highlights Joy as Resistance

Imagine the offbeat in music — the ever-elusive beat between the beat. That’s the concept of “contra tiempo.” “It’s the part of the music that makes it sound delicious,” says Ana Maria Alvarez, founding artistic director of Contra-Tiempo Activist Dance Theater that emerged from the streets of south and east Los Angeles more than two decades ago. “It gives it that sabrosita drive.” Beyond obvious rhythmic inspiration, there’s a deeper meaning. “I…