Ballet Nepantla’s show “Valentina” is a collection of stories that speak to the strength and resilience of women during the Mexican Revolution (1910 – 1920).
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Ailey Citigroup Theater
March 13, 2020 ~ Ballet Nepantla’s “Valentina” is at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC at 8pm.
Tickets from $25 at evenbrite.com
‘Valentina’
It was a time when an entire country struggled to break free of corrupt traditions and enter the modern world as one people.
By fusing contemporary ballet with traditional Mexican folklorico, ‘Valentina’ tells stories of struggles and triumph, and explores the spaces in-between love and hate, hope and despair.
What these women started, we carry on today. These stories of courage resonate once again as the story of us.
¡Viva Valentina!
World Premiere
Wednesday-Sunday, April 10-14, 2019 ~ Ballet Nepantla’s new show ‘Valentina’ makes its New York City premiere at the 14th Street Y in Manhattan’s East Village,. From $20
14th Street Y
344 East 14th St, New York, NY 10003
(between First & Second Ave)
East Village, Manhattan
Tickets are available at the door and at www.14streety.org
General Admission: $30
Students/Seniors: $20
- Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 8pm
- Friday, April 12, 2019 at 8pm
- Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 8pm
- Sunday, April 14, 2019 at 3pm
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
