Ballet Hispánico ADF Review
June 13, 2024 | Page Auditorium – Durham, NC, USA
Celebrating its 91st year in existence and its 47th year based in Durham, North Carolina, the American Dance Festival (ADF) consistently hosts a performance season featuring both established and up-and-coming dance companies.
In its second consecutive year performing at ADF, Ballet Hispánico returns with three works that display the versatility and lasting engagement of the company and dancers.
Ballet Hispánico ADF Review
The first piece on the program, House of Mad’moiselle, introduces the audience to Mad’moiselle (also called María), portrayed by the stunning Adam Dario Morales.
María is dressed in sparkling drag, contrasted against an ensemble donning identical red bob wigs and otherwise nondescript costumes. Choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, this juxtaposition of María against the backdrop of sameness continues throughout the piece and the strong ensemble serves as both frame and backup dancers at various points.
Most of the music accompanying the piece is bilingual, including the fitting María from West Side Story, moving between Spanish and English to mirror the dualistic nature of María and the company dancers.
The piece moves through sections of fluid, playful, and energetic partnering with powerful technique on display. When Morales stretches from the restrained, vogued moves toward the larger and fuller at certain points in the piece, María becomes more free and striking.
Ballet Hispánico is often known for its appreciation of theatrical performance pieces, and House of Mad’moiselle references that tradition and goes deeper in dialogue with the audience.
When María finally emerges in full glorious headdress, I wanted the dance party to keep going, and with more Mad’moiselle María.
The mood and music of the second piece on the program, Buscando a Juan, turns somber and serious.
Program notes indicate the work was influenced by Juan de Pareja, an Afro-Hispanic painter who was enslaved for years in the 1600s by Diego Velázquez, a Spanish painter (a famous portrait of de Pareja, painted by Velázquez, was exhibited last year at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
Choreographed by Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, the work itself focuses more on the dance and relationships through choreography rather than an explicit narrative. With impressive ensemble work bookending the two central duets, the choreography showcases the company’s solid ballet foundation and ends on a hopeful tone.
Leonardo Brito as Juan de Pareja and Antonio Cangiano as Diego Velázquez perform similar movements in their duet but channeled through appropriately dissimilar styles.
Brito and Cori Lewis’s duet is, at turns, full of grace and also oppression to further convey the story.
With choreography by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, 18 + 1, the final piece on the program is a playful, nonstop dance to upbeat mambo music. At times dynamic and often silly, this work is well-established in Ballet Hispánico’s repertoire and for good reason.
Amanda del Valle is a literal bright spot in her middle-of-the-dance shift, and the entire ensemble keeps the energy level up until the very end of the evening.
Ballet Hispánico has additional performances at ADF throughout the weekend, followed by appearances from other performing companies throughout the summer and into the fall.
Featured Photo of Ballet Hispánico in Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s 18 + 1. Photo by Benjamin Rivera Photography, courtesy of ADF.
