ORGANIZATION HISTORY

Ballet Hispanico explores, preserves, and celebrates Latino cultures through dance. The mission unfolds in the work of the professional Company, the School of Dance, and the Education & Outreach programs. Together, these divisions celebrate the dynamic aesthetics of the Hispanic diaspora, building new avenues of cultural dialogue and sharing the joy of dance with all communities.

Recognized for her achievements by the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest cultural honor, Tina Ramirez founded Ballet Hispanico in 1970. Ms. Ramirez, daughter of a Mexican bullfighter and grand-niece of a Puerto Rican educator, enjoyed a long professional dance career before establishing BH. From its grassroots origins as a dance school and community-based performing arts troupe, the organization has grown into a world class institution. Ballet Hispanico’s New York City headquarters includes six beautiful dance studios.

In August 2009, Ballet Hispanico welcomed Eduardo Vilaro as its Artistic Director. A former member of the Ballet Hispanico Company, Vilaro founded and led Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theater for ten years. Vilaro’s background in dance education and community outreach allows him to build on the core values established by Ms. Ramirez to bring Ballet Hispanico into an artistically vibrant future.

The Company performs a diverse repertory by the foremost choreographers of our time as well as emerging artists. The works fuse Latin dance with classical and contemporary techniques to create a new style of concert dance in which theatricality and passion propel every move. Our choreographers represent a multitude of nationalities including Venezuela, Cuba, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. The Company has offered over 3,350 performances to an audience of over 2 million, throughout 11 countries, on 3 continents.

School of Dance offers a unique curriculum including flamenco and classic Spanish dance as well as ballet and contemporary techniques. The School offers rigorous pre-professional training, a general program, and special classes for pre-schoolers and adults. It has trained more than 8,000 children who have gone on to successful careers in dance, theater, film, education, business, and many other professions.

Education & Outreach (formerly known as Primeros Pasos) offers an innovative exploratory learning experience for school children, teachers, and parents. The in-school version of the program offers long-term teaching artist residencies and has touched the lives of some 20,000 New York City school children. The touring program includes teacher training sessions, classroom workshops and master classes with Company members, and special Performances for Young People, and has brought the joy of Latino dance traditions to countless thousands across the country.

Exploring the contemporary Latino soul through dance.

ABOUT EDUARDO VILARO

Eduardo Vilaro joined Ballet Hispanico as Artistic Director in August 2009, following a ten-year record of achievement as Founder and Artistic Director of Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago. Building on Tina Ramirez’ founding vision for Ballet Hispanico, he brings with him a commitment to dance, to education, and to fostering a deeper understanding of the rich diversity within Latino cultures.

Mr. Vilaro is an accomplished choreographer, having created over 20 ballets for Luna Negra and others. He has worked in collaboration with major dance and design artists as well as musicians like Paquito D'Rivera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As a former principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South America. He has taught master classes and worked with Ms. Ramirez to create and conduct arts education and outreach programs for New York City children; he subsequently created a broad range of educational programming for the Chicago community.

Mr. Vilaro came to New York City at the age of six from his native Cuba, and began his dance training as a teenager on scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center; he also studied at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. He received a BFA in Dance from Adelphi University an MA in Interdisciplinary Art from Columbia College Chicago, where he served as Artist-in-Residence at The Dance Center.

Mr. Vilaro served on the Board of Directors for Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. He was selected as Chicagoan of the Year in 2007 and Alumni of the Year by Columbia College in 2008. He is the recipient of an NEA grant and the Ruth Page Award for his choreography.

The Latin-American experience at last has a voice. The New York Times

REPERTORY New works under Eduardo Vilaro

Through the fresh, relevant new works of the Ballet Hispanico repertory, Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro continues to explore the Latino voice in dance. Each season brings choreography from contemporary masters to emerging stars. These artists reinvigorate the company’s aesthetic so it resonates for a new generation of audiences.

Mad’moiselle A 2010 world premiere by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to soundscape inspired by Chavela Vargas. Ms. Ochoa, with composer/sound designer Bart Rijnink, creates a highly theatrical work that explores iconic male/female images and gender role playing in Latin American cultures. The score will draw on the music of Chavela Vargas, who is best known for her rendition of beloved Mexican rancheras. Mad'moiselle was commissioned, in part, by The Surdna Foundation.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is half-Colombian and half-Belgian, and completed her dance training at the Royal Ballet Academy in Antwerp, Belgium. She appeared with various German companies before joining Djazzex, a contemporary jazz-dance company in 1993. In 1997, she joined the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam for seven years as a soloist. Since leaving her performing career in 2003, Ochoa has choreographed works for the Scapino Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Gran Canaria Ballet, Ballet du Grand Theatre du Geneve, Ankara Modern Dance Theatre, Ballet X, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Ballet National de Marseille and Pennsylvania Ballet.

Puntos Suspensivos This new 2010 artistic collaboration will explore the "Chifa," or Asian influence in the Latino diaspora. The title means ellipses and the work is a reflection on connecting authentically and viscerally to one’s culture. Gabriela Lena Frank's score evokes the sound of traditional Asian instruments while employing the cello, violin, and viola. Puntos Suspensivos was commissioned, in part, with funding from Works and Process at the Guggenheim and the American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program and was created in Ballet Hispanico’s Instituto Coreográfico funded by The Rockefeller Brother’s Fund and The Ford Foundation.

Maray Ramis Gutierrez began her training at the Paulita Concepcion Vocational School of the Arts in Havana, Cuba and continued her studies at the National School of Dance in Havana. She has danced throughout the world, performed on British television, and the Venice Opera. As a principal dancer for the National Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba, she has worked with esteemed choreographers such as Giovanni de Cicco, Donald McKayle, Isidro Rolando, Joaquin Sabate, Jan Linkens and Marianela Boan. Maray has created works for Hedwig Dances, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, and collaborated with Eduardo Vilaro to choreograph for Luna Negra Dance Theater.

2009 Triptíco Ron de Jesús I Nací Andrea Miller I Locked Up Laura Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

As quoted in Dance Magazine, July 2010

Eduardo Vilaro has stretched the “Hispanico” of Ballet Hispanico in terms of both dancers and choreographers. “I find that in diversity there is a richness, a contrast, a yin and yang. It gives a beautiful mix onstage. I’m looking forward to broadening even more. Now that we are diverse, let’s start the conversations.”

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REPERTORY Classic works from Ballet Hispanico’s

historic catalogue

Tres Cantos (1975) Set to three songs (tres cantos) by Latin American composers Carlos Chavez, Lorenzo Fernandez, and Silvestre Revueltas, Talley Beatty’s 1975 masterwork reflects the history of Mexico, from its Aztec roots through the Spanish Conquest to the re-emergence of the native peoples’ unconquered spirit. This revival celebrates the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence. The revival of Tres Cantos has been made possible, in part, by American Express and the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius.

Talley Beatty (1918-1995) is one of the master choreographers of the 20th century with a career spanning dance, theatre, opera and television. Mr. Beatty began dancing with Katherine Dunham before moving to Broadway with Cabin in the Sky and Showboat. He then formed his own dance company, touring with Tropicana, a suite of dance styles derived from African and Latin American cultures. He also choreographed for Stockholm’s Birgit Cullberg Ballet, the Boston Ballet, Inner City Dance Company of Los Angeles, and Alvin Ailey. From 1974 through 1985, Ballet Hispanico commissioned five works and made one acquisition from Mr. Beatty.

Tres Bailes (2008) Tres Bailes is a rich, abstract work of three powerful dances that display the artistry and athleticism of the Ballet Hispanico dancers, set to the pulsing music of Astor Piazzolla, Alberto Iglesias, The Gotan Project. Tres Bailes was created for Fire Island Dance Festival 14, benefiting Dancers Responding to AIDS. Generous support was provided by Major Choreo-graphic Sponsor Goldman Sachs Gives/The Chavez Family Foundation.

Jean Emile trained in New York City at the High School of Performing Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, School of American Ballet, Dr. Glory’s School of Musical Theater, Joffrey Ballet School and at the Summer Dance Academy in Cologne, Germany. His professional experiences include working with Netherlands Dance Theater 2 (The Hague, Holland), Netherlands Dance Theater 1, Compania Nacional de Danza (Madrid, Spain), Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (New York, USA) Notre Dame de Paris, (Las Vegas, USA) and Donald Byrd, The Group. He choreographed "Getting There", "Veronica", "Sentimento", "3 to 1" for La Compania in Barcelona and The Operetta "Die Herzogin Van Chicago" (The Dutchess of Chicago) by the composer Kalman for the Theater Osnabruck in Germany. He currently teaches at The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York.

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Batucada Fantástica (1983) An audience favorite, this work presents a rousing homage to the Brazilian Carnival, a joyous outburst of dancing, music-making and partying, featuring eight distinctive solos culminating in a riotous ensemble finale. Ballet Hispanico's original production of Batucada Fantástica was made possible, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Vicente Nebrada (1930-2002) was a founding member of the Harkness Ballet where he began his choreographic career in 1964. In 1975 he became the Founding Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer of the International Ballet of Caracas, creating numerous ballets and solidifying his reputation as an internationally acclaimed choreographer. In 1984 he was appointed Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Caracas, which he directed until 2002. His artistic support as resident choreographer helped establish Ballet Florida in Palm Beach in the mid 1990s. His works continue to be performed around the world and have been danced by more than 30 companies such as, American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, and Ballet Hispanico.

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REPERTORY Classic works from Ballet Hispanico’s

historic catalogue

Nací (2009) Drawing from the duality of her Spanish and Jewish-American background, choreographer Andrea Miller employs her distinctive movement style to investigate the Sephardic culture of Spain, with its Moorish influence and profound sense of community, despite hardship. Andrea Miller’s choreographic fellowship was made possible by a 2009 Princess Grace Award.

Andrea Miller is Artistic Director and Choreographer of New York based Gallim Dance. Upon graduating from the Juilliard School, Miller joined Ohad Naharin's Ensemble Batsheva in Tel Aviv. In 2007 she returned to establish Gallim Dance. Miller's works have been performed throughout the US, Canada and Europe. She was awarded the 2009 Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship in Choreography, 2010 Princess Grace Foundation USA Works in Progress Award, the Youth America Grand Prix Choreographers Award, and was selected for Dance Magazine's 2009 "25 to Watch."

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Destino Incierto (2008) Carlos Sierra-Lopez, a Puerto Rican choreographer and former Ballet Hispanico company member, created Destino Incierto for three dancers. The 12-minute piece echoes the timeless characters of Carmen, Don Jose, and Escamillo in an emotional journey through each character’s struggle to find harmony for themselves and with one another.

Carlos Sierra-Lopez is a native of Puerto Rico with numerous credits. Choreographic credits include Estocada Final Dance Month Gala, Dominican Republic Teatro Nacional, Corpo Danzante in Puerto Rico, Carmen at the La Jolla Playhouse (Associate Choreographer), and Swing! (First National tour; Associate Choreographer). He assisted and collaborated on productions of Saturday Night Fever in Holland and Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz at New World Stages New York.

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Club Havana (2000) 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.

Pedro Ruiz trained in his native Cuba and in Venezuela. Mr. Ruiz choreographed three celebrated ballets while a principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico for twenty one years. Choreography credits include: The Joffrey, Luna Negra, New Jersey Ballet, the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program, Ailey’s Spring Celebration and Summer Sizzler concerts. He is on the dance faculty of Marymount College, the staff of The Ailey School and Scarsdale Ballet. Awards include: the Bessie Award, the Choo-San Goh Award and The Cuban Artist’s Fund. Recently, Mr. Ruiz received The Joyce Foundation Award to create a new work for The Joffrey and was profiled nationally on PBS’s “In The Life.”

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Farewell (1992) Choreographed by Christopher Gillis, one of the first artists to succumb to the AIDS epidemic, this haunting duet explores physical and psychological separation in a relationship. Farewell is presented on behalf of Margie Gillis and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

Christopher Gillis (1951-1993), born in Montreal, Canada, danced in the companies of May O’Donnell and Jose Limón before joining The Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1976, where he was a principal dancer for over 15 years. An acclaimed choreographer, he contributed works to White Oak Dance Project and Repertory Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City as well as five works for the Paul Taylor Dance Company. He enjoyed a life-long collaboration with his sister Margie Gillis, creating several works with her and for her that remain in the repertory of the Margie Gillis Dance Foundation.

REPERTORY Classic works from Ballet Hispanico’s

historic catalogue

2010-2011 TOUR SCHEDULE September 29 Knoxville, TN Clarence Brown Theater, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

October 2 Madison, WI Wisconsin Union Theater*

October 8 Great Barrington, MA Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

October 24 – 25 New York, NY Works & Process at The Guggenheim

November 5 Chicago, IL Harris Theater for Music and Dance

November 8 Interlochen, MI Interlochen Center for the Arts, Corson Auditorium*

November 30 – December 12 New York, NY New York Season, The Joyce Theater*

February 4, 2011 Lewisburg, PA Weis Center for the Performing Arts, Bucknell University

February 12 Kohler, WI Kohler Memorial Theater

Official Tour Sponsor for Ballet Hispanico’s 40th Anniversary season tour

February 15 East Lansing, MI Cobb Great Hall at Wharton Center for Performing Arts

February 20 New York, NY Children’s Museum of Manhattan

February 26-27 Antigua Guatemala Festival Internacional de Cultura Paiz 2011

March 5 Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater*

March 8 Boca Raton, FL Festival of the Arts BOCA

March 29-April 1 New York, NY Tribeca Performing Arts Center

April 11 New York, NY The Plaza, Ballet Hispanico Spring Gala

May 21 New York, NY Ballet Hispanico (Si Cuba! Festival) May 23-27 New York, NY Aaron Davis Hall at Harlem Stage

* Engagement includes Education and Outreach residency activities

Before After (2002) Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Before After, the critically-acclaimed signature piece of Ms. Ochoa, explores the moment before a relationship comes to an end.

BALLET HISPANICO COMPANY

Lauren Alzamora graduated from UNC School of the Arts in 2001. She has danced for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech and Battery Dance Company in New York. Lauren has also collaborated with New York-based dance photographer Howard Schatz on several projects, including underwater dance photography; she is featured among other artists in Schatz's book H2O.

Jessica Batten trained with New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble under Nancy Turano. Ms. Batten was a personal demonstrator for the Paris Opera and Royal Danish Ballet Schools and has performed with the Kirov Ballet. She graduated Cum Laude in 2005 from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance and has danced with NJDTE, Cedar Lake II, Connecticut Ballet, and on the Amici Television Show in Rome. This will be her fifth season with Ballet Hispanico.

Donald Borror, a native of Columbus, Ohio, began his serious ballet training at Ballet Met Columbus before attending and graduating from Walnut Hill School in 2006. Upon graduation he was accepted into The Juilliard School and received a BFA as a member of the dance class of 2010. His choreography has been seen in Juilliard’s Senior Production and the Choreographers and Composers Concert as well as with Columbia Ballet Collaborative.

Mario Ismael Espinoza, was born in Tijuana, Mexico. He graduated from the Univer-sity of California in Irvine, where he performed with Donald McKayle's étude Ensemble. Mario since then has performed with Odyssey Dance Theatre, in Salt Lake City, Utah; Company C Contemporary Ballet, Man Dance San Francisco, Peninsula Ballet, Liss Fain Dance and ODC Dance in San Francisco, California. This is his first season with Ballet Hispanico.

Jeffery Hover, Jr. graduated summa cum laude from Butler University, receiving a BFA in Dance Performance with departmental honors. Mr. Hover has danced with New Jersey Ballet, Dance Kaleidoscope, Ballet International and The Muny in St. Louis. He has also worked closely with Paul Sutherland, Gemze de Lappe and Norman Walker. This will be his fourth season with Ballet Hispanico.

Min-Tzu Li, a native of Taiwan, enjoyed her education at The Boston Conservatory and gained many diverse experiences working with their faculty and students. Ms. Li has been fortunate to perform works by such masters as José Limón, Martha Graham and Murray Louis, as well as creating her own works. This will be her fourth season with Ballet Hispanico.

Rodney Hamilton, a native of St. Louis, started his dance training at the age of ten with Carr Lane, COCA, Alexandra School of Ballet and Katherine Dunham. In 1996, at the age of 14, Mr. Hamilton joined the adult dance chorus at The Muny of St. Louis. He graduated from The Juilliard School and will be in his ninth season with Ballet Hispanico.

BALLET HISPANICO COMPANY

Vanessa Valecillos, joined Ballet Nacional de Caracas under the renowned director Vicente Nebrada at age 15. Ms. Valecillos continued her dance training in the United States where she earned a BFA from The North Carolina School of the Arts. After Graduating, Miss Valecillos performed with Southern Ballet Theater, Chicago Lyric Opera and with Luna Negra Dance Theater where she was a founding member under the artistic directorship of Eduardo Vilaro.

Nicholas Villeneuve, a native Canadian, was raised in Kingston, Jamaica. An alumnus of The Juilliard and The Alvin Ailey Schools, his credits include The Lion King, Cortez Contemporary Ballet and The Company Dance Theatre, Jamaica. He has performed works by José Limón and Hans van Manen, is on faculty at Perry-Mansfield, and guest teaches at The Juilliard School. This will be his sixth season with Ballet Hispanico.

Jessica Alejandra Wyatt, received her training from The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. Under the direction of Cuban teacher Haydee Gutierrez, she also studied with her mother Elena Carter. Miss Wyatt was an apprentice with The Joffrey Ballet and a company member of Luna Negra Dance Theater. This will be her second season with Ballet Hispanico and she dedicates each and every step to her mother.

PRESS QUOTES

Ballet Hispanico dances with elegance and lyricism... [their] graceful phrases look effortless. Audiences will return to see Ballet Hispanico for its enduring graciousness. Washington Post

The glamorous troupe offered an evening of delicious dancing that was technically challenging, witty at times, and chock-full of emotion. Backstage

Ballet Hispanico knows when to turn up the volume, and when to turn it down. This dance company can wake up the neighborhood with a sudden, brassy shout or it can croon softly in your ear, whispering words of love. The Star Ledger (New Jersey)

It seemed like one was witnessing a new dance form — ballet moves turned into traditional Latin dance….Ballet Hispanico moved with a crisp attack and flowed beautifully all night long whether twirling or doing splits and other unbelievable, gymnastic-like moves. LaCrosse Tribune

El conjunto de 13 bailarines de diferentes nacionalidades –si bien la mayoría es hispana... muestra en esta nueva serie una notable mejoría en técnica y estilo, sin perder ese sabor típico que lo caracteriza, y que se llama emoción. Danza Ballet

The company has such a reputation of excellence that, honestly, I would have been disappointed were the show to have been anything less than perfect. Indeed, the troupe members gave a performance that merited every accolade they’ve earned. I continue to be astounded at the sheer diversity and talent on the dance scene. Twin Cities Daily Planet

Ballet Hispanico is a good-time company. You go there to see sleek, gorgeous dancers blending modern ballroom, and ballet in fizzy cocktails that go down easy. New York Sun

Batucada looks and feels marvelous, but it would be impossible to watch this ballet today – we would be blinded; it would look dated – if it were not exquisitely balanced by the more sober works that Vilaro has either commissioned or acquired. Dance Magazine

If Pedro Ruiz’s Club Havana is even half as much fun to dance as it looks like it is, then the members of Ballet Hispanico must feel as if they’re having a party every time they perform it. Albany Times Union

Ballet Hispanico's visit offered a look at former Chicagoan Eduardo Vilaro's superb maintenance of the company, from the pinpoint precision of the Beatty enactment to the verve and elegance of the many couples in "Club Havana" by Pedro Ruiz. Chicago Tribune

"Mad'moiselle" [is] a smart, spicy piece of dance theater and the highlight of Ballet Hispanico's season. New York Post

30

Talking about diversity and the next generation

The Times—

Min-Tzu Li,Jessica Alejandra Wyatt,

Angelica Burgos, andNicholas Villeneuve of Ballet Hispanico

Matthew

Karas

Are They

mixed race and who grabs at many differ-ent cultural backgrounds in order to createmy identity.”

On the college and university scene,we spoke to Susan Lee, who directs thedance program at NorthwesternUniversity. Active in American CollegeDance Festivals for years, Lee says thatthe Midwest region has grown in diver-sity in the last 10 years, especially African

Americans and Asians. In a recentimprovisation course, she says, “I hadB-boys in the class and kids who studiedbharata natyam. I was thrilled! In the dis-cussions they are really sharing theirunique perspectives.” She says theyquickly learn “that they need to findcommon languages. When they talkabout nuances from their form, they haveto recognize that not everybody knowswhat they are talking about at first. Theylove to rise to that challenge.”

One way that diversity can be meas-ured is in student-run companies. Leesays that when she started atNorthwestern 30 years ago, there wereonly two on campus. Now there are atleast 22, and they have helped attractAfrican American students to dance. “Ithink it’s the fusion forms they are reallyexcited about,” Lee says. “They are doingAfrican dance and whatever else theyhave brought in as part of the mix.”

B Y W E N D Y P E R R O N

As a follow-up to our Race Issue in 2005, we set ourselves thissimple question: How diverse is the up-and-coming generation?But this soon splintered into other questions: What opportunitiesare available to young dancers? How are students engaging withcultures other than their own? What is diversity, anyway?

In talking to artistic directors, educators, and performersabout this unwieldy topic, two things became clear. The first isthat multiracial dancers are a growing part of the discussion.And second, it’s impossible to separate race from culture.

Eduardo Vilaro, the new director ofBallet Hispanico, says, “Younger audi-ences are looking for a reflection of whatthey see in their environment, which istechnology-filled extravaganza thatreaches beyond their hometown, theircity, their school. It broadens their con-nection to the greater world. Theyalready understand what it is to be aglobal village.”

Cuban-born Vilaro feels that youngdancers thrive on diversity. “I see themjoke around, using racial stereotypes invery fun ways. But to me that’s question-ing, and that’s investigating. They are tak-ing chances and opening up the dialogue—talking about your nappy head, or yourfunny accent. At the same time they’ll say,‘Hey, let me tell you a little more aboutthis,’ or ‘No, you’ve got it wrong.’ ”

Vilaro enjoys the wealth of Latinodancers in New York, many trained atJuilliard, Ailey/Fordham, or balletschools. “But then you have this mixture,these other students of color, often mixedrace, that are coming from a universitybackground that are well-trained also, butnot so classical.” Vilaro, who is of mixedheritage (Asian, African, and Spanish),says that many of the Ballet Hispanicodancers are also mixed. One dancer’sparents are Dominican and Armenian;another is Mexican and African American.“It speaks to me as someone who is of

A-Changin’?

Eduardo Vilaro at right, with (from left)Burgos, Li, Villeneuve, and Wyatt

'Mad'moiselle,' s'il vous plait By LEIGH WITCHEL Last Updated: 10:29 AM, December 2, 2010 Posted: 11:04 PM, December 1, 2010

Anabelle Lopez Ochoa knows how to work a prop. Her new "Mad'moiselle" has plenty of them -- it's a smart, spicy piece of dance theater and the highlight of Ballet Hispanico's season, which opened Tuesday at The Joyce.

Ochoa, a frequent guest choreographer at the company, is half-Colombian and half-Belgian. Dancing in the Netherlands, she picked up the Dutch mix of brash theatrical effects in ballet.

She keeps it simple yet eye-filling, giving her black-clad dancers one or two props per scene -- a shocking red boa or blinding white fan -- and using them skillfully.

The music, an untitled but fascinating recorded collage by Bart Rijnink, might be called "Variations on 'Maria.' " "Mad'moiselle" is about images of Latin women, and "Maria" -- from "West Side

Story" -- gets mixed and remixed with other songs.

The curtain rises on a woman in a bright-red wig, stiletto boots and a bustle with steam rising from it.

Another woman pulls her wig forward over her face, and a guy shuffles out wearing a shocking blue wig the same way. When they duet, he looks like Cookie Monster and she, like a cross between Cousin Itt and Elmo. Somehow it makes sense.

Just when you think the piece is finished, Ochoa goes on to give you an even better ending -- to "Ave Maria."

Ochoa's theatrical ideas are so surefooted that it's a little letdown that the steps themselves, though fine, aren't as striking. But there's enough smarts on the stage to make it worth anyone's time.

Ballet Hispanico offers three programs for its two-week run, but "Mad'moiselle" is on all of them. This is one mademoiselle you won't want to miss.

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Updated: Thu., Dec. 2, 2010, 10:29 AM

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Rosalie O'Connor

Ballet Hispanico in the premiere of "Mad'Moiselle;" choreographed for the company by Annabelle López Ochoa, at the Joyce Theater.

'Ballet Hispanico' preview: Provocative work makes a sultry

entrance

Published: Thursday, December 09, 2010, 8:02 AM

Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger

NEW YORK — Ballet Hispanico has gone

all contemporary without losing its mojo.

The company’s first two programs at the

Joyce Theater are, if anything, overheated.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Ballet

Hispanico turns on the sex appeal in a pair

of dances: a flamboyant premiere called

“Mad’moiselle,” choreographed for the

company by Annabelle López Ochoa, and

“Tres Bailes,” a potboiler by Jean Emile

introduced in 2008.

Program A also features “Before After,” a

duet in which dancer Jessica Alejandra

Wyatt bares her breasts — so by the time

the curtain rises to reveal a hooker

loitering in red platform shoes, in

“Mad’moiselle,” the air is thoroughly charged. Such stimulation is better than the flat, melancholy

atmosphere of “Puntos Suspensivos,” another season premiere — but how much titillation does an audience

need?

López Ochoa and Emile acquired their aesthetic chops in the bustling contemporary dance enclaves of

Belgium and the Netherlands, and both choreographers produce discreetly ordered and intelligent work

rewarding in its physicality. Restraint balances the dramatic moment in “Tres Bailes” where two men

suddenly rip off their billowing skirts and the lighting silhouettes them. A dance set to tango music should

look taut and not entirely comfortable. The men begin in a submissive pose. Three women summon them by

clapping their hands. Until the moment when the men resume their symmetrical crouch, however, Emile

supplies predictable, hard-breathing intrigue.

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In “Mad’moiselle” López Ochoa accessorizes lean choreographic patterns with props stolen from a bordello—

lurid, carmine wigs; Victorian bodices; and feather boas. This dance parodies men’s fear of seduction and

hackneyed notions of the “eternal feminine.” The women we see are archetypes, sometimes faceless, and a

series of marvelous songs all dedicated to “Maria” accompany the dance. This music ranges from “West Side

Story” to the piteous, broken voice of Chavela Vargas, who tells us, in a recording, that Maria is “the name

of women everywhere” (“nombre universal de mujer”).

Carrying this satire to its logical conclusion, the piece ends with Min-Tzu Li tottering in to the strains of “Ave

Maria,” a towering coiffure of red veils piled atop her head. The choreography is solidly constructed, but one

must ask whether the choreographer’s movement invention here equals her extravagant imagery. How

much is conceptual rigor, and how much idle provocation?

The duet, “Before After,” suggests that López Ochoa’s talent has more to offer. In a series of fluid

encounters, Wyatt tangles with Nicholas Villeneuve, butting her head against him, slouching in his embrace

or walking away. Unlike the action in “Mad’moiselle,” these events have a matter-of-fact quality that puts

both partners on an equal footing. Gradually they remove articles of clothing, suggesting the evolution of

their relationship and a process that becomes clear only when they separate.

Ballet Hispanico’s programs are all worthwhile, but those mixing old and new repertoire have the most

variety showing radically different approaches to composition. On Program C, for instance, the classic

“Batucada Fantástica” emphasizes jazz steps in a chain of exuberant solos, and the dancers are wonderfully

engaging.

Ballet Hispanico

Where: The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St

When: Tomorrow through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2

p.m.

How Much: Tickets are $10-$59. Call (212) 242-0800 or visit joyce.org.

© 2010 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

Page 2 of 2'Ballet Hispanico' preview: Provocative work makes a sultry entrance

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Ballet Hispanico’s Min-Tzu Li and Donald Borror in 'Puntos

Suspensivos' / Photo by AnnaLee Campbell

Tuesday, November 23,2010

Chica PowerLadies take the lead in Ballet Hispanico’s new seasonBy Susan Reiter

Ballet Hispanico was founded by a fiercely

determined woman named Tina Ramirez 40

years ago, and the company’s upcoming

anniversary season could serve as an unofficial

celebration of female choreographers. Eduardo

Vilaro, the energetic New York native now in his

second year as the company’s artistic director,

has assembled two programs that include world

premieres by two women, Annabelle Lopez

Ochoa and Maray Gutierrez, as well an earlier

work by Ochoa and the return of Andrea Miller’s

Nací, last season’s vibrant new addition to the

repertory. That means half of the season’s

repertory is created by women—an impressive

percentage.

As a special opening-night treat, American Ballet Theatre’s peerless principal dancer Herman Cornejo will

perform Tango Y Yo, a solo he choreographed to his countryman Astor Piazzolla’s music. The repertory also

includes works by Talley Beatty, Vincente Nebrada, Christopher Gillis and Jean Emile.

Ochoa, the daughter of a Colombian father and Belgian mother who was raised in Belgium, is an increasingly

busy freelance choreographer who brings an interesting mix of perspectives and backgrounds to her work.

Sitting in the Ballet Hispanico conference room on the Upper West Side before starting a rehearsal of

Mad’moiselle, her full-company world premiere, she cheerfully describes herself as a “cocktail” of mixed

cultures. She has always lived in Europe—Amsterdam has been her home base for 17 years—but her

Colombian half clearly plays a role in her work. “There was a duality, a cultural collision between my parents,

though I was brought up more in the mindset of European culture.”

She danced professionally until 2003, training in classical ballet but joining a series of European companies with

radically different movement styles. Her early performing years were spent with “two German companies that

were very theatrical. I hated them, because I was 18 and wanted to kick my legs high and turn and suddenly I

had to cry onstage!” She moved on to perform contemporary jazz dance with Djazzex, a more comfortable fit.

“My energy could just flow. They really taught me how to move across the stage.” Next she danced with

Rotterdam’s Scapino Ballet for seven years, in a repertory she describes as “more conceptual ballets, quite

edgy work.”

That company gave her opportunities to develop as a choreographer and get her second career going, but the

choreographic bug had bitten her quite early in life. One day when she was 11, her dance teacher left the

students for an hour with the pianist, who played a minute of music to which “we had to create something with a

friend,” she recalls. “That was amazing. I felt, if I can do this for the rest of my life, I will be the most happy

person in the world. From that moment on, I choreographed every year in school for the student workshop. My

last year, I did choreography for the entire school—100 kids.” Working with chorographers during her performing

years, “I was always thinking with them, observing how they created.”

A 2003 Dutch National Ballet commission gave her the courage to pursue her choreographic passion full-time,

and these days she keeps quite busy. Much of her work has been seen in Europe, but she is making inroads in

this country; she will be working with Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2012. Vilaro had her create dances for Luna

Negra, the Chicago company he directed for 10 years, and introduced her to Ballet Hispanico audiences last

year with her duet Locked Up Laura.

Before After, her 2002 duet, joins the company’s repertory this season, having been seen briefly here in 2006,

performed at the Fall for Dance Festival by members of Dutch National Ballet. Ochoa describes it as being “like

a flashback. It’s a study of what happens before the end of a relationship.” The score by Marc Van Roon

samples, among other things, the words of a street poet on a New York corner.

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Ballet Hispanico @ the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 10/8/10

October 8, 2010 at 11:52 pm by Tresca Weinstein

Special to the Times Union

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — If Pedro Ruiz’s “Club Havana” is even half as much fun to dance as it looks like it is, then the members of Ballet Hispanico must feel as if they’re having a party every time they perform it.

“Club Havana,” choreographed in 2000, capped off the company’s varied program Friday evening at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center here. The five sections encompass elegant partnering in “Son” and “Bolero,” high kicks and swiveling hips in “Mambo,” quick footwork in the rhumba and conga, and a sexy, sassy “Cha Cha Cha” pas de trois, in which the diminutive Min-Tzu Li is lifted high in the arms of the worshipful Randy Herrera and Donald Borror. It’s all spinning and whirling, dips and lifts, sparkly minidresses with bright ruffled layers beneath the twirling skirts.

In contrast, Talley Beatty’s “Tres Cantos,” from 1975, feels heavy-handed, particularly its swelling, melodramatic score and cheesy tribal costumes and props. The men wear flesh-toned shirts with designs meant to suggest war paint on bare skin, the women are in short tunics, and everyone is outfitted with a pair of knee guards—meant to suggest armor, perhaps? They carry flags and feathered staffs, and at one point half a dozen dancers are connected by a single piece of fabric outfitted with head- and armholes for each of them. The music, by Carlos Chavez, Lorenzo Fernandez and Silvestre Revueltas, rises again and again in crescendos that distract from rather than complement the dancing.

The piece, restaged by Nancy Turano, was created as an homage to Mexican history, from its Aztec roots to the Spanish conquest and on up to independence, but the tone doesn’t change enough to reflect those milestones. If you squint a bit, though (and maybe cover your ears), the accoutrements disappear and what you see is gorgeously orchestrated movement, with the dancers—in pairs and trios—leaping, kicking and turning in unison, weaving patterns between and around each other as they move on and off the stage.

At the other end of the spectrum, the movement in the newest work on the program, Jean Emile’s fast-paced “Tres Bailes,” from 2008, is modern and angular, with three seductive women (Lauren Alzamora, Jessica Batten and Vanessa Valecillos) playing to two men in black (Herrera and Jeffery Hover). Simultaneous duets move from lifts to jumps to high kicks and down to the floor, in a single fluid phrase.

The program also included Christopher’s Gillis’ tender pas de deux, “Farewell,” from 1992. Alexandra Gonzalez and Rodney Hamilton turn together, embrace, move apart and are drawn back to each like magnets—until, with a last kiss, he leaves her.

Tresca Weinstein is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.

BALLET HISPANICO Where: The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle St., Great Barrington, Mass. When: 8 p.m. Friday Program: “Tres Cantos,” “Farewell,” “Tres Bailes,” “Club Havana” Length: One hour, 40 minutes, two intermissions

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PRESS & PROMOTIONAL INFORMATION

Delve deeper into Ballet Hispanico

Publicity Contacts

Beth Garcia Senior Account Executive

Goodman Media International, Inc. 750 Seventh Avenue | 28th Floor | New York, NY 10019-6834

(212) 576-2700 ext. 242 office | (212) 576-2701 facsimile bgarcia@goodmanmedia.com

www.goodmanmedia.com

Brooke Botsford Assistant Account Executive

(212) 576-2700 ext. 241 office bbotsford@goodmanmedia.com

Domestic Tour Representation

USA Representation: Rena Shagan Associates, Inc.

16A West 88th Street I NYC, NY 10024 212.873.9700 www.shaganarts.com

info@shaganarts.com

International Tour Representation

Carnegie Hall Tower 152 West 57th Street, 5th Floor NYC, NY 10019

Tel: (212) 994-3500 Fax: (212) 994-3550

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