Life is a cabaret. For Ballet Hispanico, it’s a "NightClub."
The full evening work, which fizzes with the vibrancy of Latin music
and dance, receives its world premiere at the newly opened Jack
H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, November 11–16.
Conceived by the company’s artistic director, Tina Ramirez,
and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, Alexandre Magno and Sergio
Trujillo, the three-part work is crowded with vivid characters.
Their sleekly energetic dancing tells three distinct tales that
travel along the shifting timeline of 20th century dance and music
styles. Ballet, modern dance and a range of Latin social dances
are seamlessly mixed for the telling.
The first episode, Graciela Daniele's steamy "Cada Noche…Tango"
("Every Night…Tango"), with a score by Astor Piazzolla,
is set in a Buenos Aires brothel in the 1920’s. It is a dark
cave-like place, populated with pimps and prostitutes who challenge
each other sexually and wager their lives to prove their machismo
— all compellingly expressed through electrifying performances
of the tango.
The next section, "Dejame Soñar" ("Let Me
Dream"), is choreographed by
Alexandre Magno and set in a social club in Spanish Harlem in the
1950’s. In this episode, set to music by Tito Puente and Pink
Martini, the rhythms of the mambo release pent-up frustrations of
the characters’ workaday lives, express the people they dream
to be and the love they wish to have.
And finally, there is Sergio Trujillo's "Hoy Como Ayer"
("Today Like Yesterday"), which takes place in a drug-infested,
neon-lit nightclub, where cocaine and sex are the accepted currency.
The dance-drawn characters include a DJ, a Snake and Queenie; the
year is 2003. The music is by DJ St. Germain, Gotan Project and
XAlfonso.
The libretto for "NightClub" is by Jim Lewis; the set
design by Neil Patel. The costumes are by Paul Tazewell, and the
lighting is by Peggy Eisenhauer (Part 1) and Howell Binkley (Part
2 & 3).
Argentina-born Graciela Daniele has been nominated for ten Tony
Awards and six Drama Desk awards for both her choreography and her
work as a director. Her credits include the Tony Award-winning revival
of "Annie Get Your Gun," as well as award-winning productions
of "Once on This Island" and "Ragtime." Daniele
also choreographed Woody Allen’s films "Mighty Aphrodite"
and "Everyone Says I Love You," both of which earned her
Fosse Awards. In 1998, Daniele directed and choreographed "A
New Brain" at Lincoln Center Theatre, where she is a resident
director.
Alexandre Magno, who had already received several awards in his
native Brazil before dancing and choreographing in the United States,
creates works that combine jazz, flamenco, hip-hop, ballet and modern
dance. He choreographed Madonna’s "Drowned World Tour"
and the 62nd Academy Awards, as well as other film and television
productions. Magno also formed his own dance company, Personna Production
Co., which has performed at the International Dance Festival of
Joinville, Brazil, the largest festival in South America.
SergioTrujillo's recent choreographic work includes "Salome"
for the New York City Opera, productions of "The Sound of Music"
and "West Side Story" for the Stratford Festival in Canada
and the world premiere of "Peggy Sue Got Married" in London.
As a dancer, Trujillo has appeared on Broadway in "Guys and
Dolls," "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and the original
production of "Fosse," as well as in the film "Chicago"
and various music videos and television specials.
Ballet Hispanico, founded by Artistic Director Tina Ramirez in 1970,
has commissioned over 70 new works, which fuse contemporary American
dance and Hispanic culture. Touring throughout the United States,
South America and Europe, it has forged a reputation as a world-class
company, an award-winning school and a leader in arts education
through "Primeros Pasos," its nationwide public school
program, which reaches over 25,000 students around the country each
year. In its three decades, the company has performed for over two
million people in major venues throughout the U.S., as well as internationally,
bringing major works by distinguished choreographers including Tony
Award winners Ann Reinking and George Faison, modern innovator David
Roussève and Spanish talent Ramón Oller. For its inestimable
contribution to Hispanic culture in the United States, the company
was awarded the prestigious Hispanic Heritage Award for Education
at The Kennedy Center in 1999. Ramirez was awarded the 2003 Dance
Magazine Award, and this October, she was honored at "Bravo!,"
a concert celebrating the dance of Latin America.
Following preview performances in Charlotte, NC (September 5), Ballet
Hispanico performed "NightClub" in such cities as Chicago,
IL (September 25); Milwaukee, WI (September 27); and Columbus, OH
(October 3). After The Skirball, "NightClub" will be seen
in New Haven, CT (January 30); Stamford, CT (February 6); Conway,
AR (February 10); Lubbock, TX (February 12); El Paso, TX (February
14); Scottsdale, AZ (February 19–20); and Escondido, CA (February
22). Other repertory stops include Kilmarnock, VA (February 29);
Newark, NJ (March 5–7); Charleston, SC (April 15); and Durham,
NC (April 17).
The evening curtain for Ballet Hispanico’s "NightClub,"
Tuesday through Saturday, is at 8pm, with 3pm matinees on Saturday
and Sunday. Tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday nights, as well as
the matinee shows, are $30, $35 and $40; Thursday through Saturday
night, tickets cost $40, $45 and $50. All tickets are available
by calling 212-992-8484 or 866-468-7619, online at www.TicketWeb.com
and www.elnightclub.com or by emailing nightclub@ballethispanico.org.
The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at
566 La Guardia Place at Washington Square South.
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A NightClub of Festivities
Life is not only a cabaret, but a "NightClub," with events
that will happen both inside and outside the theater:
Opening Night Party, November 11, following the 8pm performance
NightClub/After Party at Nells, November 12, following the
8pm performance
Creating NightClub, a talk with Artistic Director Tina Ramirez about
the work, November 15, following the 3pm performance
NightClub's Pride Day, Latin Social Dance Class, November
16, following the 3pm performance
Tickets to the NightClub events must be purchased directly from
Ballet Hispanico. Email nightclub@ballethispanico.org for more information.
NightClub was made possible,
in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. "Cada
Noche…Tango" was made possible, in part, with public
funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York
State Council on the Arts and by a grant from MetLife Foundation.
"Hoy Como Ayer" was made possible, in part, with commissioning
funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and additional
funding from Jody and John Arnhold and The Greenwall Foundation.
MetLife Foundation is the proud sponsor of Ballet Hispanico’s
2003 National Tour. Ballet Hispanico’s New York Season is
sponsored by The Harkness Foundation for Dance. Additional support
has been provided by public funds from the National Endowment for
the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York
City Department of Cultural Affairs.
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