Can a bunch of ballet dancers really give celebrities the like J.Lo and Ricky Martin reason to pause? According to The New York Times, “Ballet Hispanico could give any gaggle of pop stars a run for their money.”
Ballet Hispanico will have a chance to impress Madison residents Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Oscar Meyer Theater of the Madison Civic Center, 211 State St. The performance is part of the company’s 17-city, 11-state U.S. tour. The tour includes performances and dance residencies through which the company members hope to share their unusual style with patrons all over the country and, more specifically, college students.
“Colleges tend to be places where presenters want to bring dance into the community,” said Derek Munson, the company manager for Ballet Hispanico. “We like to make colleges part of our nationwide tours.”
Current artistic director Tina Ramirez founded Ballet Hispanico in 1970. Since then, Ramirez’s company has evolved into a hugely successful fusion of ballet, modern and Latin dance. The company is widely recognized as the leading “interpreter of Hispanic dance” in the United States.
Ramirez, the daughter of a Mexican bullfighter, came to the United States at the age of seven and has been dancing since. In the past three decades, her company and her choreographic work have become well respected in the world of professional dance. Today, future company members train at the recently renovated $2 million Ballet Hispanico School of Dance in New York City.
The diverse style of the company is reflected in its equally diverse homelands and past dancing experiences. Members hail from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Korea, South Africa, Italy and Ukraine.
They have danced with traditional ballet companies like American Ballet Theater, Ballet Internacional de Caracas, The Bolshoi Ballet and The American Repertory Ballet. They have been company members in Martha Graham’s distinguished modern-style corps and have toured with the likes of Aretha Franklin.
With 12 Tony Award nominations and endless Broadway and off-Broadway credits, their lauds alone make them rather distinguished dancers.
Munson describes their upcoming Madison show as “very high-energy, very entertaining.” The company will be performing pieces that have been part of its repertoire since 1997, but Saturday will mark the first time these pieces have been performed in Madison.
The company will perform 33-minute pieces. Pedro Ruiz, a 1998 Bessie Award winner for his achievements and excellence in dance, choreographed two of the pieces. Ann Reinking created the third.
Reinking directed and choreographed “Fosse,” which received a Tony nomination and an Oliver Award, and “Chicago,” which received Tony and a Drama Desk awards. These three pieces are part of a 70-work repertoire that Ballet Hispanico rotates as it moves throughout the country.
Ballet Hispanico’s 2002-2003 tour features not only performances but also dance residencies. These residencies will take place at colleges from the University of California-Santa Barbara to Skidmore College in New York. The company is especially excited to share its distinctive style with up-and-coming dancers through master classes at these various locations.
If previous critics speak the truth, Saturday’s show will be exciting. The New York Times has called Ballet Hispanico “smashingly theatrical;” The Chicago Sun-Times deemed it “vibrant and virtuosic performers.” The company’s style is “just the right combination of grace, humor and athleticism”(The Boston Globe), and “[a] standing ovation was a foregone conclusion” (The Washington Post).
To become part of Saturday night’s imminent standing ovation for Ballet Hispanico call the Civic Center at 258-4141 or visit www.madcivic.org.
