New York’s Ballet Hispanico Performs at Lafayette

Celebrating Latino cultures through dance for over four decades, Ballet Hispanico will perform at Lafayette College’s Williams Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6.

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (610) 330-5009 weekdays between noon-to 2 p.m. and 4-5 p.m., plus one hour before the performance.

At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5, the company will hold a Latin social dance workshop at NCCC, Fowler Family Center, 511 E. Third St., Bethlehem. There is no cost and reservations are not needed. For more information contact Virginia Gonzalez, director of the Hispanic Caucus at Northampton Community College at vgonzalez@northampton.edu.

Founded by National Medal of Arts recipient Tina Ramirez, Ballet Hispanico is now led by the charismatic Eduardo Valera, who continues to advance the diverse dance aesthetics of the Hispanic diaspora, building new avenues of cultural dialogue and sharing the joy of dance with all communities.

Their Lafayette performance includes Cayetano Soto’s new National Dance Project creation, Sortijas (Rings), a duet that celebrates Latino tradition by representing the circular ties of family and friends that link communities together over generations.

Also featured is Valera’s own triumphant Danzon, set to original music by Paquito D’Rivera. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Sombrerisimo will have its world premiere at Lafayette in advance of the company’s appearance at City Center’s prestigious Fall for Dance Festival; rounding out the program is Jardi Tancat, set to Maria del Mar Bonet’s Catalonian folk tales by Spain’s most famous choreographer, Nacho Duarte.

In addition to the Williams Center performance, Ballet Hispanico will also hold a master dance class at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5 at the Performing Arts High School and will meet at 6 p.m. for a reception with Lafayette students at the Grossman House for Global Perspectives.

The performance is funded by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Dance Project and the Dexter and Dorothy Baker Foundation.

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Photo by Rosalie O’Conner
High res photos available upon request

Ballet Hispanico Press Contact: Greg Stuart, (212) 362-6710, ext. 24

Kathleen Parrish
Associate Director of Media Relations
Lafayette College
Communications Division
Easton, PA 18042
parrishk@lafayette.edu
www.lafayette.edu