DURHAM, NC: Ballet Hispánico Returns to the American Dance Festival
Company:
Ballet Hispánico
Ballet Hispánico, the nation's largest Latinx cultural organization and one of America's Cultural Treasures, returns to the American Dance Festival on July 21 & 22, 2023, at 7:30pm. Activities include a post-performance discussion on July 21 and a children's matinee at 1:00pm on July 22, all taking place in the Reynolds Industries Theater at Duke University, Bryan University Science Center, 125 Science Drive, Durham, NC. The company will present a mixed bill curated by Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro featuring repertory favorites and two new commissions. Tickets start at $12 and are available here.
"The members of Ballet Hispánico are 12 of the most technically accomplished and musical dancers you'll find in the contemporary sphere." —The Washington Post
In the ADF-commissioned Papagayos, Omar Román De Jesús follows a mischievous character who puppeteers humanity while simultaneously scoffing at the people's plight. Feverishly, the Papagayo dissolves everyday agency in a solvent of absurdity. Checks and balances mutate, seemingly at random. This is a shapeshifting story of power, influence, and identity in the face of unauthorized control. Club Havana is Latin dancing at its best. The intoxicating rhythms of the conga, rumba, mambo, and cha cha are brought to life by choreographer Pedro Ruiz, himself a native of Cuba, as he imagined his very own "Club Havana." The show will also include William Forsythe's New Sleep (Duet), which first premiered in 1987 by the San Francisco Ballet, and Línea Recta by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, which premiered at the Apollo Theatre in 2016.
Papagayos – World Premiere
Papagayos follows a mischievous character who puppeteers humanity while simultaneously scoffing at the people's plight. Feverishly, the Papagayo dissolves everyday agency in a solvent of absurdity. Checks and balances mutate, seemingly at random. This is a shapeshifting story of power, influence, and identity in the face of unauthorized control.
Papagayos is commissioned in part by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. This production of Papagayos was made possible by support from the Perry Granoff New Works Project.
New Sleep (Duet) (excerpt)
William Forsythe's New Sleep (Duet) (1987) — a neoclassical master work scored by composer Thom Willems – demonstrates Forsythe's ability to deconstruct classical vocabulary and maintain a strict precision without confining the physical expression within the movement. His work was long admired by Ballet Hispánico founder Tina Ramirez who, for many years, sought an opportunity for the Company to present one of his pieces. In honor of Tina, two members of the Company will perform an excerpt from New Sleep (Duet) at each performance. This production of New Sleep (Duet) was made possible by the generous contributions of Gaily and John Beinecke, and Dhuanne and Douglas Tansill.
Club Havana (2000)
One of the company's signature works, this is Latin dancing at its best. The intoxicating rhythms of the conga, rumba, mambo, and cha cha are brought to life by choreographer Pedro Ruiz, himself a native of Cuba, as he imagined his very own "Club Havana."
The original Club Havana production was made possible, in part, by gifts from Jody and John Arnhold, Dhuanne and Douglas Tansill, and Caroline Newhouse; by grants from American Express Company and AT&T; and with commissioning funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.
The New York Season is made possible by the Perry Granoff New Works Project, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Línea Recta (2016)
From one of today's most sought-after choreographers comes a powerful and resonant work that explores an intriguing aspect of flamenco dance: the conspicuous absence of physical partnering. While maintaining the integrity and hallmark passion of the genre, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa imagines an original and explosive movement language premised upon the theme of partnership and performed to flamenco guitar by Eric Vaarzon Morel.
Línea Recta was commissioned in part by The Apollo Theater and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.
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