Ballet Hispanico Celebrates 30th Anniversary at the Joyce

Under the aegis and direction of Tina Ramirez, Ballet Hispanico has introduced contemporary Hispanic concert dance to audiences around the world.  From works by Vicente Nebrada, and Graciela Daniele to ballets by Anna Sokolow and Talley Beatty, Ballet Hispanico has set a standard for having performance pieces that not only speaks to the Hispanic experience but also explores great innovators in contemporary movement.  Since Ramirez’s retirement in 2009, former Ballet Hispanico dancer Eduardo Vilaro has continued the tradition and vision of Tina Ramirez.

Ballet Hispanico under the helm of artistic director Eduardo Vilaro, though still in the vein and vision of founder Tina Ramirez, has expanded its scope and repertoire to include works that stretch the company in new directions. Its current season at the Joyce Theatre exemplifies this expansive direction.

Nacho Duarto’s first choreographic work, Jardi Tancat, was an interesting choice to celebrate Ballet Hispanico’s 30^th anniversary. This iconic work helped launch Duarto’s career as a choreographic talent that intuitively understood how to draw from his cultural experiences and express those experiences through a mix of movement styles and techniques.

Jardi Tancat evokes the patient yearnings or Spanish peasants who are living through drought and hope for rain on their sunbaked, barren land. Duarto utilizes modern contractions and fall and recovery movements that are so endemic of the Graham technique. These movement qualities expertly express the inner unction of his countrymen whose lives are ravaged by hardship and poverty, but still hope for salvation. Beyond the inventiveness of the choreography and the obvious assemblage of modern dance techniques, there are some wonderful, exultant lifts and partnering in this work. And Min-Tzu Li, in her sixth season with the company, continues to inject an integrity and honesty paired with a deep understanding of Duarto’s choreographic style.

Choosing Cayetano Soto’s Sotijas for its 30^th anniversary was an expert choice for Ballet Hispanico in that this piece demonstrates Ballet Hispanico’s dancer’s mastery of a variety of movement styles. Nowadays, few concert dance companies contract performers who are only proficient in one dance idiom. Dance audiences expect to see a mixed repertoire that incorporates a wide range of dance idioms and styles. Sotijas is just that kind of work. Though Sortijas is a pas de deux that relies on intricate partnering, the individual dancers get to show off their unique individual strengths.

Though Princess Grace Foundation recipient Jamal Callender takes on the traditional role of dance porteur in Sortijas, Callender is not just another male dancer showing off his female partner; his mastery of movement styles and comfortable stage presence shine through.  Lauren Alzamora is a wonder in this pas de deux. From her controlled flexibility to her ability to evoke pathos and a quiet intensity, Alzamora used this ballet to demonstrate her ability to balance between the polarities of the undertone of reverberating rhythms and measured muscular control.

A Vueltas con Los Ochenta is a light work that evokes the mood of 1980s underground nightclub scene. Inma Garcia and Meritxell Barbera have done a fine job of mixing stagecraft, innovative lightning techniques with choreography that conjures up images of night creature that haunt the underground club scene. However, when it comes to choreography, Garcia and Barbera leave much to be desired. And the fine Ballet Hispanico dancers are not given much to dance other than look like extras an 80s music video. As music video fare, A Vueltas con Los Ochenta, works out just fine, but in the concert dance arena, this performance piece is milquetoast compared to the other fine works in Ballet Hispanico’s rich, ever-expanding repertoire.

—William S. Gooch

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