Ballet Hispánico Returns To THE AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL This July

Ballet Hispánico, the nation's largest Latinx cultural organization and one of America's Cultural Treasures, returns to the American Dance Festival on July 21 & 22, 2023, at 7:30pm.

Activities include a post-performance discussion on July 21 and a children's matinee at 1:00pm on July 22, all taking place in the Reynolds Industries Theater at Duke University, Bryan University Science Center, 125 Science Drive, Durham, NC. The company will present a mixed bill curated by Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro featuring repertory favorites and two new commissions. Tickets start at $12.

In the ADF-commissioned Papagayos, Omar Román De Jesús follows a mischievous character who puppeteers humanity while simultaneously scoffing at the people's plight. Feverishly, the Papagayo dissolves everyday agency in a solvent of absurdity. Checks and balances mutate, seemingly at random. This is a shapeshifting story of power, influence, and identity in the face of unauthorized control. Club Havana is Latin dancing at its best. The intoxicating rhythms of the conga, rumba, mambo, and cha cha are brought to life by choreographer Pedro Ruiz, himself a native of Cuba, as he imagined his very own "Club Havana." The show will also include William Forsythe's New Sleep (Duet), which first premiered in 1987 by the San Francisco Ballet, and Línea Recta by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, which premiered at the Apollo Theatre in 2016.

Papagayos - World Premiere

Papagayos follows a mischievous character who puppeteers humanity while simultaneously scoffing at the people's plight. Feverishly, the Papagayo dissolves everyday agency in a solvent of absurdity. Checks and balances mutate, seemingly at random. This is a shapeshifting story of power, influence, and identity in the face of unauthorized control.

Papagayos is commissioned in part by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. This production of Papagayos was made possible by support from the Perry Granoff New Works Project.

New Sleep (Duet) (excerpt)

William Forsythe's New Sleep (Duet) (1987) - a neoclassical master work scored by composer Thom Willems - demonstrates Forsythe's ability to deconstruct classical vocabulary and maintain a strict precision without confining the physical expression within the movement. His work was long admired by Ballet Hispánico founder Tina Ramirez who, for many years, sought an opportunity for the Company to present one of his pieces. In honor of Tina, two members of the Company will perform an excerpt from New Sleep (Duet) at each performance. This production of New Sleep (Duet) was made possible by the generous contributions of Gaily and John Beinecke, and Dhuanne and Douglas Tansill.

Club Havana (2000)

One of the company's signature works, this is Latin dancing at its best. The intoxicating rhythms of the conga, rumba, mambo, and cha cha are brought to life by choreographer Pedro Ruiz, himself a native of Cuba, as he imagined his very own "Club Havana."

The original Club Havana production was made possible, in part, by gifts from Jody and John Arnhold, Dhuanne and Douglas Tansill, and Caroline Newhouse; by grants from American Express Company and AT&T; and with commissioning funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

The New York Season is made possible by the Perry Granoff New Works Project, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Línea Recta (2016)

From one of today's most sought-after choreographers comes a powerful and resonant work that explores an intriguing aspect of flamenco dance: the conspicuous absence of physical partnering. While maintaining the integrity and hallmark passion of the genre, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa imagines an original and explosive movement language premised upon the theme of partnership and performed to flamenco guitar by Eric Vaarzon Morel.

Línea Recta was commissioned in part by The Apollo Theater and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

Transformational funding for Ballet Hispánico is provided by MacKenzie Scott, the Ford Foundation America's Cultural Treasures program, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Major support is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold, Avance Investment Management, the Frances Lear Foundation, Kate Lear and Jonathan LaPook, the Samuel H. Scripps Foundation, the Miranda Family Fund, the Scherman Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, the Tatiana Piankova Foundation, the Prospect Hill Foundation, the Mosaic Network and Fund in The New York Community Trust, the Mid Atlantic Arts Regional Resilience Fund, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.

Ballet Hispánico's Bienvenidos Ticket Program provides access to the arts by providing members of the community with free tickets for Ballet Hispánico's New York Season performances. The Bienvenidos Ticket Program is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

MetLife and JPMorgan Chase are the Official Tour Sponsors of Ballet Hispánico. TelevisaUnivision is a Media Partner of Ballet Hispánico.

Ballet Hispánico is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ballet Hispánico is the largest Latinx/Latine/Hispanic cultural organization in the United States and one of America's Cultural Treasures. Ballet Hispánico's three main programs, the Company, School of Dance, and Community Arts Partnerships bring communities together to celebrate the multifaceted Hispanic diasporas. Ballet Hispánico's New York City headquarters provide the physical home and cultural heart for Latinx dance in the United States. It is a space that initiates new inclusive cultural conversations and explores the intersectionality of Latine cultures. The Ballet Hispánico mission opens a platform for new social dialogue, and nurtures and sees a community in its fullness. Through its exemplary artistry, distinguished training program, and deep-rooted community engagement, Ballet Hispánico champions and amplifies Latine voices in the field. For over fifty years Ballet Hispánico has provided a place of honor for the omitted, overlooked, and othered. As it looks to the future, Ballet Hispánico is pushing the culture forward on dance and Latine creative expression issues.

Heralded as "One of the nation's most important institutions" by the New York Times and as "The world's greatest dance festival" by the New York Post, the American Dance Festival's sustained record of creative achievement is indivisible from the history of modern dance. Since 1934, ADF has remained committed to serving the needs of dance, dancers, choreographers, and professionals in dance-related fields. Performances at the American Dance Festival have included nearly every notable choreographer and performing company since the advent of modern dance.

Papagayos by Omar Román De Jesús is commissioned in part by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works.

MetLife Foundation is an Official Tour Sponsor of Ballet Hispánico. The 2022-2023 Ballet Hispánico National Tour is made possible by JP Morgan Chase, an Official Tour Sponsor.

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