Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre to Present EL SUENO, 1/4 at Hamilton Stage

Ring in the New Year and celebrate the Three Kings when Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre brings the magical El Sueno: The Dream to Rahway's Hamilton Stage for the Performing Arts on January 4, 2015. El Sueno takes place Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 3:00 pm, at Hamilton Stage for the Performing Arts, 360 Hamilton Street, Rahway, New Jersey.

Ticket prices are $20 adults, $14 Seniors and Students with ID. To order tickets, call the Box Office at (732) 499-8226 or book on-line at www.ucpac.org. This program is funded in part by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. A special presentation of this show is available for K-12 school groups on Tuesday January 6 at 10:00 am - contact the Box Office for more information.

El Sueno is a unique adaptation of the cherished holiday classic "The Nutcracker" as performed by Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre, New Jersey's premiere Spanish Dance and Flamenco company. The program features Gypsy Flamenco and folkloric dances from Spain and Latin America, together with live music and Alborada's widely-acclaimed dancers and talented young artists, providing an unforgettable entertainment experience for all ages.

The curtain opens on young Clarita and her family and friends enjoying the holiday in the plaza where everyone will dance and see the Three Kings give gifts to all. When her friends break a matador doll given to her by her aunt, a chain of events transports Clarita into the midst of a fierce battle between a brave Matador and the Great Toro King. Clarita saves the Matador, and they are whisked away to the Land of the Majas, where Clarita is rewarded for her courage with a display of exciting Gypsy Flamenco and folkloric dances from Spain and swirling dances from Mexico and Ecuador.

El Sueno spotlights three sensational male dancers: 16-year-old Navruz Baum dancing as the young Matador, a guest flamenco artist (Peter Suarez) dancing as the Great Toro King and Alborada principal dancer Ricardo Santiago dancing as the adult Matador. Alborada principal dancers Lisa Botalico as Queen Maja and Eva Lucena as Tia María round out the featured artists of this exciting production, together with Sarah Yashar Gershman as the young girl Clarita, who dreams about fighting the bull and seeing and dancing the beautiful dances of Spain. Every year, Alborada changes some of the dances seen by Clarita during her dream, so new, exciting choreographies will always be seen.

Based in Fords, New Jersey, "Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre", under the name of the "Maria Alba Dance Company" was founded in 1965 by esteemed Flamenco and classical dancer Maria Alba, who then co-founded the "Spanish Dance Theatre" in 1980 with Eva Lucena, who, upon the passing of Maria Alba in 1992, in 1995, moved "Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre" to New Jersey and established Alborada as the greatest exponent of classical Spanish dance drama pieces in North America. Both entertaining and educational, Alborada's varied repertoire runs the gamut of Spanish Flamenco and traditional dances to Hispanic, Celtic, Moorish cultural influences and beyond.

Hamilton Stage for the Performing Arts (www.hamiltonstagenj.com) is an intimate, 200-seat theatre in Rahway, New Jersey, located two miles between the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike and just six blocks from the NJ Transit train station serving Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast lines.

For more information on El Sueno, visit www.AlboradaDance.org, call (732) 598-3979, or email Alboradadance@optonline.net.

Pictured: El Sueno, La Tarara, a joyful fusion of Flamenco and Middle Eastern dance". Photo by Nobuko Kanehara, 2012.