Pillow Pages: Ballet Hispanico
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Ballet Hispanico Closes Festival with Joyous Theatricality and New Leadership
by Ashley Wilson, Press/Editorial Intern, Ted Shawn Theatre
Passion, theatricality and sensuality combine with technical prowess when Ballet Hispanico takes over the Ted Shawn Theatre August 26-30. A prominent American ensemble devoted to exploring, preserving, and celebrating the beauty and joy of Latino dance and culture, the company brings colorful costumes, dramatic choreography, and music that keeps you grooving in your seat. The company's works--a fusion of ballet, modern, and Latin dance--are energetic, feisty, and always entertaining.
Jacob's Pillow has long been known for celebrating change and innovation in dance, so it's fitting that the closing performance of this year's Festival marks the start of a new partnership for the acclaimed company. In October, Ballet Hispanico announced that Founder and Artistic Director Tina Ramirez would step down after her nearly 40-year tenure with the company. Her successor, Eduardo Vilaro, former Ballet Hispanico principal dancer and founder of Chicago's Luna Negra Dance Theater, assumed the position August 1. This Pillow engagement is especially notable because it is the company's first under his helm.
Ramirez, who made her Jacob's Pillow debut in 1948, founded the Latin-American dance company in 1970 as a reaction to the limited number of companies for young Hispanic dancers. As she told The New York Times' Julie Bloom, "In the early days I just wanted Hispanics to have a voice in dance and for people to get to know us as people. Because, you know, you went to see a ballet, and there was somebody crouched with a sombrero, and that's not who we are."
Over the years, Ballet Hispanico has carved a prominent place for itself in the world of dance, both nationally (especially in New York City, where the company is based) and abroad. By commissioning works from some of the best choreographers of the 20th century, including Alvin Ailey and Donald McKayle, as well as the foremost Latin choreographers of our time, and recruiting some of the best dance talent around, she helped develop her company into one that tours the world, including to Jacob's Pillow, where they previously performed in 1984, 1998, and 2006 (in a co-presentation with MASS MoCA).
To say that Eduardo Vilaro has large dance shoes to fill is an understatement. But change within any art form is vital. Though it's too soon to speculate on the impact Vilaro will have, there is little doubt that he will lead Ballet Hispanico with vivacity, dedication, and talent.
Vilaro is a fitting choice for the position, having performed with the company as a principal dancer from 1988-1996. He also taught for a number of years in The Ballet Hispanico School, a professional training program that boasts more than 600 students. After his move from New York City to Chicago to pursue an M.A. at Chicago's Columbia College, he established Luna Negra Dance Theatre in 1999. Like Ballet Hispanico, Luna Negra aims to capture the spirit and essence of Latino culture, and over the last ten years, it has established itself as a significant entity in Chicago's arts and cultural community.
By the time Ballet Hispanico arrives at the Pillow, Ramirez will have handed the company's reins over to Vilaro, but she herself won't be far off. On Wednesday, August 26 at 5 pm, she will give a free, hour-long PillowTalk entitled Saluting Tina Ramirez. During this discussion in Blake's Barn, she will look back on decades of contributions to the dance field in this career retrospective, and her Pillow debut will be recalled, with film clips documenting those early performances.
It's an apt kickoff to a special, commemorative engagement that Vilaro says he can't wait to be a part of. The performance includes the Jacob's Pillow premiere of Destino Incierto and Locked Up Laura, as well as the revival of Ramon Oller's Good Night Paradise. Destino Incierto is an emotional and rapturous ballet staged for a trio of timeless characters from the opera Carmen (Carmen, Don Jose, and Escamillo), while Locked Up Laura features the virtuosic blending of contemporary and balletic styles by internationally-renowned choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, a former soloist with Scapino Ballet. Good Night Paradise, choreographed for seven dancers and set to a beautiful score sung in Catalan, is a spellbinding work that showcases Oller's sharp movement style and flair for theatrical storytelling. Also on the program are repertory favorites Club Havana and Tito on Timbales.
"I am thrilled and honored to inaugurate my return to Ballet Hispanico at Jacob Pillow's Dance Festival," says Vilaro. "As a dancer, I have always been awed by the history and artistry of the Pillow, and so it is fitting that we pay tribute to Tina at the Festival with a program that honors the past and celebrates the future of the company."
Click here to view the Pillow Pages photoessay: Student and Sponsor
Click here to read the next Pillow Pages article: A Day in the Life of a Jacob's Pillow Summer Intern
by Ashley Wilson, Press/Editorial Intern, Ted Shawn Theatre
Passion, theatricality and sensuality combine with technical prowess when Ballet Hispanico takes over the Ted Shawn Theatre August 26-30. A prominent American ensemble devoted to exploring, preserving, and celebrating the beauty and joy of Latino dance and culture, the company brings colorful costumes, dramatic choreography, and music that keeps you grooving in your seat. The company's works--a fusion of ballet, modern, and Latin dance--are energetic, feisty, and always entertaining.
Jacob's Pillow has long been known for celebrating change and innovation in dance, so it's fitting that the closing performance of this year's Festival marks the start of a new partnership for the acclaimed company. In October, Ballet Hispanico announced that Founder and Artistic Director Tina Ramirez would step down after her nearly 40-year tenure with the company. Her successor, Eduardo Vilaro, former Ballet Hispanico principal dancer and founder of Chicago's Luna Negra Dance Theater, assumed the position August 1. This Pillow engagement is especially notable because it is the company's first under his helm.
Ramirez, who made her Jacob's Pillow debut in 1948, founded the Latin-American dance company in 1970 as a reaction to the limited number of companies for young Hispanic dancers. As she told The New York Times' Julie Bloom, "In the early days I just wanted Hispanics to have a voice in dance and for people to get to know us as people. Because, you know, you went to see a ballet, and there was somebody crouched with a sombrero, and that's not who we are."
Over the years, Ballet Hispanico has carved a prominent place for itself in the world of dance, both nationally (especially in New York City, where the company is based) and abroad. By commissioning works from some of the best choreographers of the 20th century, including Alvin Ailey and Donald McKayle, as well as the foremost Latin choreographers of our time, and recruiting some of the best dance talent around, she helped develop her company into one that tours the world, including to Jacob's Pillow, where they previously performed in 1984, 1998, and 2006 (in a co-presentation with MASS MoCA).
To say that Eduardo Vilaro has large dance shoes to fill is an understatement. But change within any art form is vital. Though it's too soon to speculate on the impact Vilaro will have, there is little doubt that he will lead Ballet Hispanico with vivacity, dedication, and talent.
Vilaro is a fitting choice for the position, having performed with the company as a principal dancer from 1988-1996. He also taught for a number of years in The Ballet Hispanico School, a professional training program that boasts more than 600 students. After his move from New York City to Chicago to pursue an M.A. at Chicago's Columbia College, he established Luna Negra Dance Theatre in 1999. Like Ballet Hispanico, Luna Negra aims to capture the spirit and essence of Latino culture, and over the last ten years, it has established itself as a significant entity in Chicago's arts and cultural community.
By the time Ballet Hispanico arrives at the Pillow, Ramirez will have handed the company's reins over to Vilaro, but she herself won't be far off. On Wednesday, August 26 at 5 pm, she will give a free, hour-long PillowTalk entitled Saluting Tina Ramirez. During this discussion in Blake's Barn, she will look back on decades of contributions to the dance field in this career retrospective, and her Pillow debut will be recalled, with film clips documenting those early performances.
It's an apt kickoff to a special, commemorative engagement that Vilaro says he can't wait to be a part of. The performance includes the Jacob's Pillow premiere of Destino Incierto and Locked Up Laura, as well as the revival of Ramon Oller's Good Night Paradise. Destino Incierto is an emotional and rapturous ballet staged for a trio of timeless characters from the opera Carmen (Carmen, Don Jose, and Escamillo), while Locked Up Laura features the virtuosic blending of contemporary and balletic styles by internationally-renowned choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, a former soloist with Scapino Ballet. Good Night Paradise, choreographed for seven dancers and set to a beautiful score sung in Catalan, is a spellbinding work that showcases Oller's sharp movement style and flair for theatrical storytelling. Also on the program are repertory favorites Club Havana and Tito on Timbales.
"I am thrilled and honored to inaugurate my return to Ballet Hispanico at Jacob Pillow's Dance Festival," says Vilaro. "As a dancer, I have always been awed by the history and artistry of the Pillow, and so it is fitting that we pay tribute to Tina at the Festival with a program that honors the past and celebrates the future of the company."
Click here to view the Pillow Pages photoessay: Student and Sponsor
Click here to read the next Pillow Pages article: A Day in the Life of a Jacob's Pillow Summer Intern
