Ballet Folklorico The Mexico Comes To MPAC

Enjoy an evening of Mexican dance, culture, folklore and history as presented by Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, Saturday, November 17 at 8 pm at Mayo Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $29-$59.

In 1952, dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernandez founded the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, having embarked at a very early age on a never-ending quest to rescue the dancing traditions of Mexico. This vital search became a basic need to express not only in Mexico, but also in the rest of the world. Her goal was to share the beauty of the Universe in motion through Mexican dances from the Pre-Colombian era, the Hispanic Viceroy period, and the popular period of the Revolutionary years.

In 1954, Amalia began to garner recognition as a highly respected cultural representative of Mexico. In her earliest ballets, the audience sees the present time fade before their eyes, as they enter into a journey through the past: the lords of heaven and earth come back to life, the jaguars, the gods born of human flesh; and thirty different cultures that blossomed in centuries past leave behind a trail of color. All of these elements together gave Amalia Hernández the inspiration to create the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico.

A weekly program on Mexican television sponsored by the government aired the Ballet's initial performances. Merely a few years into their formation, the company achieved a degree of international success that has been maintained for over fifty years. Amalia Hernandez and Ballet Folklorico de Mexico have since created over forty ballets for upwards of seventy dancers. The music, technical rigor, elaborate costuming and Amalia's choreography have helped the Ballet and its followers disseminate the zest for rich Mexican tradition and folklore throughout the world.

Since 1959, the company has been permanently housed at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. The institution has two main artistic companies called The First Company and the Resident Company, both whom alternate tours and performances in Mexico and abroad.

The company has currently given over 5,000 performances, and both Amalia Hernandez and the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico have been distinguished with more than 300 awards recognizing their artistic merits.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2018-2019 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.