Ballet Hispánico , Linea Recta. Photo by Paula Lobo. BALLET HISPÁNICO Educator Packet Inside Look: Ballet Hispánico at 50 Tuesday, October 13, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS About the Company 3 About the Founder and Leadership 4 Things to Prepare You 5 About the Program 6-9 Assessment for Students 10 About The Music Center OVERVIEW 11 Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center INSIDE LOOK: BALLET HISPÁNICO AT 50 The Music Center is thrilled to provide middle school and high school students with a digital student performance. We hope that this will be an engaging and inspiring experience for you and your students, and we look forward to when we can safely invite you and your students back to The Music Center! WHEN Tuesday, October 13, 2020 11:00a.m. SPONSORED BY Glorya Kaufman Dance Foundation Terri and Jerry Kohl Cindy Miscikowski / Ring-Miscikowski Foundation / The Ring Foundation Anita Mann Kohl and Allen D Kohl and Center Dance Arts Ballet Hispánico | 2 ABOUT THE COMPANY Recognized for her achievements by the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest cultural honor, Tina Ramirez founded Ballet Hispánico in 1970. From its grassroots origins as a dance school and community- based performing arts troupe, the organization has grown into a world-class institution. Ballet Hispánico’s New York City headQuarters houses a School of Dance and state-of-the-art dance studios for its programs and the arts community. In August 2009, Ballet Hispánico welcomed Eduardo Vilaro as its Artistic Director. A former member of the Ballet Hispánico Company, Vilaro founded and led Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theater for a decade. Vilaro’s background in dance education and community outreach allows him to build on the company’s founding values and lead Ballet Hispánico into an artistically vibrant future. Ballet Hispánico Company Members. Photo from ballethispanico.org. BALLET HISPÁNICO WEBSITE: https://www.ballethispanico.org Ballet Hispánico | 3 ABOUT THE FOUNDER & LEADERSHIP TINA RAMIREZ FOUNDER Photo by Bruce Laurance. Tina Ramirez founded Ballet Hispánico in 1970 and served as Artistic Director until 2009. Under her direction, over 45 choreographers created works for the Company, many of international stature and others in the early stages of their career. Ramirez was born in Venezuela, the daughter of a Mexican bullfighter and grandniece to a Puerto Rican educator who founded the island’s first secular school for girls. Her performing career included international touring with the Federico Rey Dance Company, the Broadway productions of Kismet and Lute Song and the television adaptation of Man of La Mancha. In recognition of her enduring contributions to the field of dance, Ms. Ramirez received the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest cultural honor, in 2005. Juilliard awarded her an honorary degree, Doctor of Fine Arts, in 2018. Numerous other awards include the Honor Award from Dance/USA (2009), the Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (2007), the Dance Magazine Award (2002), the Hispanic Heritage Award (1999), a Citation of Honor at the 1995 New York Dance and Performance Awards (the “Bessies”), the NYS Governor's Award (1987), and the NYC Mayor’s Award of Honor for Arts & Culture (1983). EDUARDO VILARO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO Photo by Rachel Neville. Eduardo Vilaro joined Ballet Hispánico as Artistic Director in August 2009, becoming only the second person to head the Company since it was founded in 1970. In 2015, Vilaro took on the additional role of Chief Executive Officer of Ballet Hispánico. He has been part of the Ballet Hispánico family since 1985 as a dancer and educator, after which he began a 10-year record of achievement as Founder and Artistic Director of Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago. Vilaro has infused Ballet Hispánico’s legacy with a bold and eclectic brand of contemporary dance that reflects America’s changing cultural landscape. Born in Cuba and raised in New York from the age of six, he is a frequent speaker on the merits of cultural diversity and dance education. Vilaro’s own choreography is devoted to capturing the spiritual, sensual and historical essence of Latino cultures. He created over 20 ballets for Luna Negra and has received commissions from the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Grant Park Festival, the Lexington Ballet and the Chicago Symphony. In 2001, he was a recipient of a Ruth Page Award for choreography, and in 2003, he was honored for his choreographic work at Panama’s II International Festival of Ballet. Vilaro was also inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame in 2016 and was awarded HOMBRE Magazine’s 2017 Arts & Culture Trailblazer of the Year. In 2019, Vilaro was the recipient of the West Side Spirit’s WESTY Award, was honored by WNET for his contributions to the arts, and most recently was the recipient of the James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award. Ballet Hispánico | 4 THINGS TO PREPARE YOU FOR THE PERFORMANCE Ballet Hispánico brings communities together to celebrate and eXplore Latino cultures through innovative dance productions, transformative dance training, and community engagement. Here are some things to observe and heighten your senses: I. Observe how each piece begins and ends. Are the performers already on stage or do they make an entrance? What is the mood or image at the beginning of each piece? Does it change? How does each piece end? II. How do the costume designs and color choices support the mood and intent of each dance? Included with costumes are hats and shoes, or a choice of bare feet. III. Listen closely as each piece is performed. What sounds do you hear? What instruments? What is the style of the music? What mood is evoked by the music? IV. Notice the lighting choices used for each piece. How do the color choices of the lighting create different moods? V. Feel the emotions communicated in each piece. Think about the meaning for you. Do images, thoughts or memories come up in your mind? Tiburones, Photo by Paula Lobo. Ballet Hispánico | 5 ABOUT THE PROGRAM Línea Recta, Photo by Paula Lobo. LÍNEA RECTA (excerpt) CHOREOGRAPHER: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa MUSIC: Eric Vaarzon Morel COSTUME DESIGN: Danielle Truss LIGHTING DESIGN: Michael Mazzola WORLD PREMIERE: November 18, 2016, at the Apollo Theater ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHY 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. ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER The Colombian-Belgian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa completed her dance education at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp, Belgium. After a 12-year career in various European dance companies Ochoa decided in 2003 to focus solely on choreography. In that same year, she was hailed as a “rising star of the Dutch dance scene” (NRC newspaper) and only seven years later the Temecula Performing Arts Examiner wrote “Ochoa is truly a masterful choreographer with an edge for what dance can and should be in this constantly changing industry.” Ochoa is an award-winning and sought-after choreographer that has created works for 64 dance companies around the world. Ballet Hispánico | 6 Con Brazos Abiertos, Photo by Amy Kerwin. CON BRAZOS ABIERTOS (excerpt) CHOREOGRAPHER: Michelle Manzanales ARTISTIC COLLABORATION: Ray Doñes SOUNDSCAPE INCLUDES: Carla Morrison, Cheech & Chong, Julio Iglesias, Edward James Olmos, Gustavo Santaolalla, Michelle Manzanales, Juan Carlos Marin Marin, Ember Island, Mexican Institute of Sound POEM BY: Maria Billini-Padilla COSTUME DESIGN: Diana Ruettiger LIGHTING DESIGN: Joshua Preston PREMIERE: 2017 ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHY Humility, nostalgia and humor are utilized by Michelle Manzanales as she explores the iconic Mexican symbols that she was reluctant to embrace as a Mexican-American child growing up in Texas. Intertwining folkloric details with a distinctly contemporary voice in dance, set to music that ranges from Julio Iglesias to rock en Español, “Con Brazos Abiertos” is a fun and frank look at a life caught between two cultures. ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER Michelle Manzanales, originally from Texas, is a choreographer and dedicated dance educator of nearly 30 years. Before being named Ballet Hispánico’s School of Dance Director in December of 2016, Manzanales was in the midst of her seventh season as the company’s Rehearsal Director & Artistic Associate. Currently, she serves on the National Association of Schools of Dance’s (NASD) Committee on Ethics. She has served as a juror for the Nebraska Arts Council, Individual Artist Fellowships, and was honored to be part of a round table planning dialogue supporting Carnegie Hall’s major education project ‘All Together: A Global Ode to Joy.’ Ballet Hispánico | 7 Tiburones, Photo by Paula Lobo. TIBURONES (excerpt) CHOREOGRAPHER: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa MUSIC: Pérez Prado, Dizzy Gillespie, and The Funky Lowlives COMPOSITONS: James Bigbee Garver COSTUME DESIGN: Mark Zappone LIGHTING DESIGN: Joshua Paul Weckesser WORLD PREMIERE: November 22, 2019 at the Apollo Theater ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHY In Tiburones, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa addresses the discrimination and stereotypes placed upon Latinx culture and the power the media has in portraying these themes by diminishing the voices of Latinx artists. Ochoa will deconstruct gender roles and identity to revitalize an authentic perspective of Puerto Rican icons appropriated within the entertainment industry. ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER (Please see page 6 for bio.) Ballet Hispánico | 8 Club Havana, Photo by Paula Lobo. CLUB HAVANA (excerpt) CHOREOGRAPHER: Pedro Ruiz MUSIC: Israel Lopez, Rubén Gonzales, A.K. Salim, Perez Prado and Francisco Repilado COSTUME DESIGN: Emilio Sosa COSTUME CONSTRUCTION: Diana Ruettiger LIGHTING DESIGN: Donald Holder WORLD PREMIERE: 2000 at The Joyce Theater Havana | Photo by Paula Lobo ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHY Latin dance forms first came to the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, when Cuban immigrants introduced the conga and rumba.