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Dance St. Louis to bring taste of Mexican ballet to Fox
(by Regina Popper - January 20, 2010)
,-photo-courtesy-of-CAMI)
In the heart of winter, Dance St. Louis is inviting St. Louisans to warm themselves in the tropical heat, zesty spirits and kaleidoscopic colors of Ballet Folklorico de Mexico.
The internationally celebrated troupe of dancers, singers and onstage musicians will present a panoramic tour of their country’s ancient roots and regional flavorings at 8 p.m. Jan. 29 and 30 at the Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd.
Begun in 1952 by founder Amalia Hernandez, the company is based in Mexico City where one troupe performs year-round at the magnificent Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), a Beaux Arts/Mexican art deco masterpiece of marble and famous murals, featuring a dazzling 21-ton stained-glass Tiffany curtain.
A second, touring troupe has covered the globe since the late 1950s when its TV popularity caught the attention of officials who recruited the company to represent Mexico at the Pan-American Games in Chicago.
Hernandez began the folkloric performances with eight dancers, and 10 years later appeared with 75 dancers, singers and musicians in New York City for a two-week engagement. The company’s 58-year history continues its success. After Hernandez’s death in 2000, her daughter, Norma Lopez Hernandez, took over as artistic director, and Amalia’s grandson, Salvador Lopez, has served as company manager since 1983.
From the beginning, Amalia Hernandez incorporated her creativity in portraying the folk dances, which were set in specific locales and danced by the people in a specific community. Transferring them to the theatrical stage, in her view, required the addition of classical balletic and modern dance shadings while preserving the recognizable beauty and pageantry of each folk work. As she famously said, “I am more creative than the anthropologists.”
Salvador Lopez said he learned company management from his grandmother, with one of his favorite memories being a two-month tour of China.
“Amalia began adapting what she saw in Mexican folk dance and was criticized for her theatrical approaches in the early days,” he said. “The company wanted to use all the space of the stage, so fortunately the trained dancers can accomplish stronger and bolder movements.”
Elaborate costuming, including head pieces and iconic hat wear, were always part of Mexican folk tradition (in many cases a necessity to cope with the blazing sun). However, Hernandez, who continued to choreograph until her death, used the tricks of her trade, like staging and lighting, as well as modern fabrics and design to enhance the basics.
The upcoming program reveals the astonishing diversity of the ethnic peoples of Mexico; recognizable are the Aztec, Spanish, French and African influences. The opening work, “The Gods,” portrays the myth and mystery of ancient times, where the sun and the moon dominated the cosmology alongside the influence of the gods of war. Struggling with hunger and sacrifice was the fear of the unknown in the battles between evil and paradise.
Another piece, “Revolution,” explores the Mexican Revolution that began modern Mexico in 1910, a hundred years ago. Faced with the dominance of the European-influenced elite, the peasant revolutionaries in this work break up the party that omitted them. The European polka here is supplanted by popular dances, such as La Adelita.
From the state of Veracruz’s Gulf Coast town of Tlacotalpan comes a series of dances, from “The Dance of the Fisherman” and “The Dance of the Cuckoo Bird” to “The Fan Dance” and “La Bamba.” Watch for the cowboy theme in the northern Mexico piece called “Charreada.” Here the rope dance and the country love dance take the stage. And of course wedding celebrations from the northeastern Mexico Huasteca region can’t be missed.
“The Feather Dance” returns to an ancient offering of the Zapotec Indians, a civilization that can be traced back more than 2,500 years in the central southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. To welcome guests, music and dance featured particularly complex rhythms and steps while maneuvering elaborate feather headdresses.
And anyone who has seen the company can’t forget “The Deer Dance,” which hails from the folk dances of the Yaqui people who performed them in preparation for the hunt. As supreme hunters, they managed to avoid the control of Spanish colonialism, preserving their indigenous culture to this day, even against modern influences, as they wield their bows and arrows.
The cowboy theme reappears in the finale. The state of Jalisco in central western Mexico presents its famed big-hatted master horsemen (and horsewomen) called Charros. Along with its Mariachi music groups, Jalisco provides the two most recognizable symbols of Mexico.
“At religious events and carnivals in Mexico, people can still see some of the same steps that have lived for the last 200 years. On stage, the audience sees the original with something new,” Salvador said.
• For ticket information call 534-1111 or visit www.dancestlouis.org.
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