Ballet Hispanico to perform World Premiere at FALL FOR DANCE
September 30th & October 1st 2013
BALLET HISPANICO
to Perform a World Premiere Festival Commission
in the 10th Anniversary Season of the
Fall for Dance Festival
at New York City Center
September 30 & October 1, 2013
Ballet Hispanico, recognized as the nation's leading Latino dance organization since 1970, will perform in Program 3 of the 10th Anniversary Season of Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center on Monday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 8pm. Tickets are 5 and will go on sale on September 8, 2013 at 11am. Tickets can be purchased online at www.NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix at 212.581.1212, or at the City Center Box Office. New York City Center is located at 131 West 55th Street, NYC.
Ballet Hispanico will present the World Premiere of Sombrerísimo, choreographed by Belgian-Colombian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and commissioned especially for Fall for Dance. The work is an athletic tour de force for six men full of rhythmic agility and stylistic flair.
"Lopez Ochoa disassembles and reassembles the coded rituals and rhythms until they spark insight and laughter" (4 stars) - Financial Times
Sombrerísimo is the fifth work of Ms. Lopez Ochoa's to be performed by Ballet Hispanico under the artistic direction of Eduardo Vilaro, and the second to be commissioned for the Company. Ms. Lopez Ochoa's previous works with Ballet Hispanico are Before After, Locked Up Laura, Mad'moiselle (commissioned for Ballet Hispanico) and Nube Blanco.
"We are thrilled to participate in Fall for Dance this year and to perform one of three new works commissioned by City Center," said Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director of Ballet Hispanico. "It is such a delight to partner with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who has agreed to set a brilliant new piece on our company. As a choreographer, she brings a unique sense of humor to dark and unusual topics for dance."
"We launched Fall for Dance nine years ago with the goal of introducing new audiences to dance and providing a highly visible showcase for artists, and it has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams," said New York City Center President & CEO Arlene Shuler. "Since its inception, the Festival has presented 177 diverse companies and introduced more than 220,000 newcomers and dance enthusiasts to an eclectic mix of choreographers and performers. We are thrilled to add three new commissioned works this year from today's most exciting choreographers, including Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, with her new piece for Ballet Hispanico."
ANNABELLE LOPEZ OCHOA is half-Colombian and half-Belgian, and completed her dance training at the Royal Ballet Academy in Antwerp, Belgium. She appeared with various German companies before joining Djazzex, a contemporary jazz-dance company in 1993. In 1997, she joined the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam as a soloist for seven years. Since leaving her performing career in 2003, Ochoa has choreographed works for the Scapino Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Gran Canaria Ballet, Ballet du Grand Theatre du Geneve, Ankara Modern Dance Theatre, Ballet X, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Ballet National de Marseille and The Pennsylvania Ballet.
Ballet Hispanico's 2014 New York season is made possible by Jody and John Arnhold, Goya Foods, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Princess Grace Foundation - USA and with public support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and Spain Culture New York-Consulate General of Spain & Spain Arts & Culture.
ABOUT BALLET HISPANICO
Celebrating 43 years of dance and culture, Ballet Hispanico is recognized as the nation's premier Latino dance organization. Led by Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, the Company boasts a rich and diverse repertory of over 100 works by the foremost choreographers and emerging artists of our time. The works expand on founder Tina Ramirez's legacy of exploring the diversity of Latino culture through a fusion of classical, Latin, and contemporary dance powered by theatricality and passion. The Company has performed for an audience of nearly 3 million, throughout 11 countries, on 3 continents. For more information, visit www.ballethispanico.org. Follow Ballet Hispanico on Facebook and Twitter.
EDUARDO VILARO joined Ballet Hispanico as Artistic Director in August 2009, following a ten-year record of achievement as Founder and Artistic Director of Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago. He has been part of the Ballet Hispanico family since 1985. As a dancer in the Ballet Hispanico Company, Mr. Vilaro performed works by Vicente Nebrada, Talley Beatty, Ramon Oller and other audience favorites. As an educator he assisted Ballet Hispanico founder Tina Ramirez in developing a program for children living in temporary housing and was involved with many aspects of the organization's education residencies. Mr. Vilaro is an accomplished choreographer, having created over 20 ballets for his own company in addition to the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Lexington Ballet, and the Civic Ballet of Chicago. In 2001 he was a recipient of a Ruth Page Award for choreography, and in 2003 he was honored at Panama's II International Festival of Ballet for his choreographic work. He received a B.F.A. in Dance from Adelphi University and an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from Columbia College Chicago, where he served as Artist-in-Residence at The Dance Center.
New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street, NYC
Monday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 8pm
Tickets 5. Tickets will go on sale September 8, 2013 at 11am.
Online: www.NYCityCenter.org,
By phone: CityTix at 212.581.1212
In person: City Center Box Office
