Ballet Nepantla ‘Sin Fronteras’ is at Queens Theatre in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 8pm. From $20
Get tickets at queenstheatre.org
‘Sin Fronteras’
‘Sin Fronteras’ means without borders in Spanish. It is the mindset of today’s generation of Americans with a Mexican heritage. We have become fluid in both worlds.
The first generation was culturally Mexican.
The second generation was culturally American. We were taught to leave behind our heritage and be “good” Americans. We did, but felt something was missing.
The third generation began to recover our heritage and could operate in a binary fashion on either side of the border.
Today’s fourth generation is equally fluid in both cultures. We have evolved beyond borders. We fly over them.
Ballet Nepantla
This is a New York City-based company that fuses classical and contemporary ballet with Mexican folklórico to tell timeless stories of Mexico.
The costumes and references to traditional Mexican dances may lead you to think this is a folklórico dance company, but it is really classical and contemporary ballet fused within the framework of folklórico.
Nepantla is a Nahuatl word that describes “in-between” spaces that may be cultural, historical, and artistic. It speaks to the ambiguity of the human experience, and the perpetual search for an understanding of self.
What New York City Ballet’s George Balanchine did with the folkloric dances of his native Russia, Ballet Nepantla is doing with the folklórico dances of Mexico.
The Company’s founding artistic director, Andrea Guajardo, trained at the Ailey School in New York and then danced with MOMIX.
While Guajardo choreographs the contemporary ballet work, co-founder Martin Rodriguez arranges the folklorico dances. Rodriguez, a native of Guadalajara and former principal dancer with Grandeza Mexicana in Los Angeles, teams with Guajardo to fuse varying dance traditions that shape the artistic “in-between” spaces that define Ballet Nepantla.
At the 14th St. Y, Ballet Nepantla will perform its second ballet, “Valentina,” a performance that celebrates the strength and resilience of women during Revolutionary Mexico.
Watching and listening to Ballet Nepantla reminds me of home. I am originally from Los Angeles. What Ballet Nepantla does could only happen in New York City, the world center of ballet, modern, contemporary dance, and now the emergence of Mexican culture in all its artistic splendor.
Looking at the monarch caterpillar you would never expect that creature to transform into a butterfly, but it manifests itself into one of nature’s great spectacles. Ballet Nepantla experiences a similar perpetual transformation.
The Company was founded in 2017, but it is already making its mark. Can’t wait to see what Nepantla grows into.
Learn more about Ballet Nepantla at www.balletnepantla.com
Ballet Nepantla ‘Sin Fronteras’ Tickets
From $20. Get tickets at queenstheatre.org
Queens Theatre
14 United Nations Ave S, Corona, NY 11368
(near the Unisphere and the Queens Museum)
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
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