BALLET HISPANICO Returns to Columbus Tonight, 9/29

CAPA presents Ballet Hispanico at 8pm tonight, September 29, at the Capitol Theatre (77 S. High St.). Tickets are $19.50-$34 at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000. Students between the ages of 13-19 may purchase $5 PNC Arts Alive All Access tickets while available.

Ballet Hispanico choreographers represent a multitude of cultures from countries including Venezuela, Cuba, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. The company has performed more than 3,350 performances for audiences of more than two million in 11 countries.

Latest commissions include “Asuka,” Vilaro’s first work with Ballet Hispanico, which premiered on December 17, 2011, at the world famous Apollo Theater and features music by Grammy winner Arturo O’Farrill. “Espiritu Vivo,” choreographed by Brooklyn-based choreographer Ronald K. Brown and featuring the music of legendary Peruvian singer Susana Baca, combines traditional and contemporary movement vocabulary set to percussive Caribbean rhythms. “Mad’moiselle” choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa with music of Bart Rijnink after Chavela Vargas, who is best known for her rendition of beloved Mexican rancheras. “Tres Bailes” has been created by Jean Emile and set to the pulsing music of Astor Piazzolla, Alberto Inglesias, and the Gotan Project. “Batucada Fantástica” is an homage to the Brazilian Carnival with the choreography of Vicente Nebrada.

In 2009, Ballet Hispanico welcomed Eduardo Vilaro as its Artistic Director. A former member of Ballet Hispanico, Vilaro founded and led Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theater for ten years. Vilaro’s background in dance education and community outreach allows him to build on the core values established by founder and former artistic director Tina Ramirez to bring Ballet Hispanico into an artistically vibrant future that explores, preserves, and celebrates Latino culture through dance.

Vilaro is an accomplished choreographer, having created over 20 ballets for Luna Negra and others. He has worked in collaboration with major dance and design artists as well as musicians like Paquito D'Rivera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, and Central and South America. He has taught master classes and worked with Ramirez to create and conduct arts education and outreach programs for New York City children, and subsequently created a broad range of educational programming for the Chicago community.

Vilaro came to New York City at the age of six from his native Cuba, and began his dance training as a teenager on scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and he also studied at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. He received a BFA in dance from Adelphi University and a MA in interdisciplinary art from Columbia College Chicago where he served as Artist-in-Residence at The Dance Center.

Vilaro served on the Board of Directors for Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. He was selected as Chicagoan of the Year in 2007 and Alumni of the Year by Columbia College in 2008. He is the recipient of an NEA grant and the Ruth Page Award for his choreography.