Ballet Folkorico de Mexico Amalia Hernandez: Ballet Folklorico de Mexico

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Ballet Folklorico de Mexico - Amalia Hernadez

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The Great Tenochtitlan

Tarima from Tixtla

Zacatecas

The Yaquis from Sonora

Tlacotalpan Festival

The Concheros

Sones de Michoacan

Chiapas

Tlaxcala Carnival- America's Folklore

Jalisco

The Gods

The Mayas

Sugar Crop in Tamaulipas

Life is a Game

Wedding at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

The Olmecs

Costumes

Faldeo

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Yadira - Diosa Azteca de la antigua region de Ensenada, Baja California

Significado:

Amiga. De origen hebreo.

Caracteristicas:

Tiene una gran inteligencia, sobre todo en
lo relacionado con los temas prácticos y
materiales.

Es muy creativa e imaginativa.

En permanente actividad, ya que es muy
solicitada su ayuda.

Sabe ganarse la
confianza y el respeto de sus amigos
gracias a su gran honestidad.

Es sensible, romántica y muy
expresiva, cuando siente verdadero amor

Espero que puedas ir, Domingo 3PM - Despues de la Misa de Gallo !!!

Mi Taquilla - Pero sin tu hermosa compañia, no voy !!!

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Amalia Hernandez

In 1952, Amalia Hernandez, dancer and choreographer, founded the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico, having embarked, at a very early age, on a never-ending quest to rescue the dancing traditions of Mexico. This vital search became a basic need to reflect, not only in Mexico but the rest of the world, the beauty of the Universe in motion, which started with the pre-Colombian civilizations, and grew with the Hispanic influences of the Viceroyal era and the popular strength of the Revolutionary years.

In 1954, Amalia started a series of presentations that credited her as the Cultural Representative of Mexico to the world at large.

The present time fades before our eyes, and thus commences our journey through the past; The Lord of Heaven and Earth come back to life; the Jaguars; the gods born of human flesh; thirty different cultures that blossomed in centuries gone by, leaving behind a trail of color in the rhythms, dances and music they created...all of this compounds the cultural heritage that gave Amalia Hernandez the inspiration necessary to create the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico.

The international success achieved during the first tours and maintained through thirty-nine years of incessant artistic endeavors, is always manifest in the excellence of the production and serves to portray Mexico’s folklore in every city the Company visits around the world.

This is how, starting from the sixties, Amalia Hernandez and the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico have developed the choreography for some 30 ballets, composed of 56 folk dances. The music, technical perfection, sophisticated wardrobe and original choreographies grant this ballet company its hallmark of uniqueness and quality.

Amalia Hernandez and the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico have been distinguished with more than 200 prizes in recognition to their artistic merits.

Norma Lopez Hernandez

Norma Lopez Hernandez, daughter of the renowned choreographer and dancer Amalia Hernandez, has been the driving force of a grand popular tradition ever since she took over the leadership of the Resident Company of the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico.

As a ballerina of great qualities and a woman of unparalleled talent for the management of the Ballet, Norma Lopez has devoted herself completely to the supervision and artistic direction of the company’s performances at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, and other official presentations; furthermore, she takes part in all rehearsals as well as in the preparation and organization of the Traveling Company while in Mexico.

Norma Lopez is a touchstone of the world and art of Ballet.
Her mother’s words are more than enough to confirm this assertion:

“My daughter is a better director and manager than I could ever be. Without her help, it would have been impossible to transform our ballet company into what it is today, and in so little time.” This mother and daughter share in their ardent desire to enrich the world through the art of the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico.

Ballet Folklórico: Folkloric Dance

The term folklore is used to signify folk art, a form of expression born from the substance of a certain group of people and deeply rooted within its most cherished traditions, therefore becoming fixed, balanced, constantly growing and forever reflecting the qualities only subtly refined by time, education and progress. Folklore is not a stagnant form of art, but essentially traditional; it does not change, although it is beautified and refined through the eyes of new generations.

Thus, Mexican folkloric or folk dance has its origins in a pre-Hispanic era, where it adopted two ritualistic presentations: one for war and another for religion, even though it had other superficial variations. Fray Diego Duran, a XVI century mestizo historian, described some forms of Mexican dance and took pride in detailing the colorful finery swirling with the movement of the exquisitely planned and beautifully orchestrated choreography of the folk dances. By the same token, Juan de la Cueva expressed his astonishment at the almost obsessive uniformity of movement and the precision of rhythm that became apparent with the unfolding of the dances he witnessed.

All these folk dances have remained alive, and quite unchanged, in the heart of the people, and the unique effort of modern Mexican choreographers has succeeded in refining and purging these ancient dances that expressed an awe-inspired adoration to Nature, Courage, Love and Death.

Using this inborn quality of Mexican personality, this especial sense of interpretive dance, this easy flow of movement and elegance of attitude that flourish into expressions of great artistic eminence, Amalia Hernandez—through her pure technical and choreographic guidance, loving study of original forms, and skillful teaching expertise—developed a magnificent corps de ballet that has conquered international acclaim by its own merits.

The Great Tenochtitlan

The northern exodus to find a place where the Aztecs were to settle and build their city, is the subject that inspired the fabulous choreography of this ballet:
The Great Tenochtitlan. These people had a sign that they should look for, devouring a serpent, and they found it in the place where Mexico City stands today. The site was a great lake, and the city became known as the Great Tenochtitlan, the only city in the world that was founded in accordance to the orders of the Gods.

Tarima from Tixtla

The echo of tapping shoes shakes the wooden stand, signaling thus, in the whirling rhythm of joy, the warmth of the people from Guerrero and the mischief displayed in the swirl of skirts and the incessant dialogue between the tips and the heels of the dancers’ shoes. These rhythms are translated into boisterous movements that aim to communicate one simple message “the joy of life.” This is the rhythm of a people that is willing to express, with all the strength derived from the past, the never-ending whirlwind of life as the edges of love, the love of a man for a woman which, for lack of a another was of making itself felt, draws the couple to a wooden stand, called tarima. Where their bodies can manifest, through silent and eloquent words, the feelings that dwell in the deepest, most intimate recesses of their hearts.

Zacatecas

The geographical core of the Mexican raison d’tre is imbedded in the waltzes and songs of love that possess, with their heated rhythms, the young couples that, entwined, endlessly revolve around one eternal story. Woman, that companion through the Revolution, the one called Soldadera, makes herself felt on the stage and delivers the fast movements and gestures that portray the historical drama that seized her country during those times. While fighting beside her fellow Revolutionaries, we can but experience with the dancers two parallel stories: the one pertaining to historic times and another that only dance could have given birth to- the universal story of the fight for life. Thus, we see before our very eyes the struggle between the inborn characteristics of mankind: evil and destruction against goodness and love.

The Yaquis from Sonora

This race, that boasts traditions that have been preserved untouched through many centuries, is portrayed in a dramatic staging and choreography by the Ballet Folklórico de Amalia Hernandez; it is called: The Deer Dance. In this performance, the soloist achieved such a transmutation of personality that the fear, the survival instinct of the deer, and the eternal fight between life and death are present in every movement of the dancer from the moment he appears on stage.

The precision of his movements, the grace and elasticity of every muscle and the magical rendering he does of a beautiful being in danger of dying give the spectator a unique opportunity to experience the drama depicted in the form of a deer, at once real and mythical. As the story unfolds, from before the hunt to the tragic end, we participate in the recreation of a grand work of art.

Tlacotalpan’s Festival

All dances and joyous celebrations are moments that make life more pleasurable. In Mexico, celebrations, better known as fiestas, help people to express their happiness at being together and, as is the case of Tlacotalpan, with its gigantic and fabulous representations, to make fun of notorious individuals that have helped to make history, to unite cultures and assimilate the rhythms from the Caribbean islands, with their congas and drums, giving new life and expression to the feelings and hopes of one people.

This Feria de Carnaval takes place the second of February or Dia de la Candelaria, an important date in the Mexican calendar, where Jesus as a child is beautifully dressed and taken to church, to the accompaniment of dancing gigantes y cabezones, those satirical representations with large heads and tall bodies.

The climax of this fiesta occurs in a dance, where the coming and goings of the hidden currents of history finally take form and embrace the people.

The Concheros

Singing and dancing along the roads traveled by their people, the Concheros or Shell Players celebrate the great events of life. The sounds of the shell rattles tied to their feet urge them to dance until they drop with fatigue; their plumes take them close to the skies, to a floating sensation, to the possibility of soaring to the rhythms created by long-gone ancestors, which give the dancers a unique opportunity to express their courageous nature and their personal conceptions of life and the universe. Each movement is born from the deep remembrance of ancestral theology and, when combined they become a dance of fused Catholic and pre-Hispanic traditions; a dance which started long before the Spanish conquest and evolved to embrace the Holy presence of the Virgin de Guadalupe, Patron Saint of Mexico. Simply put, is a tradition that has never been interrupted.

Their costume, beautiful and splendent with colorful feathers, evokes the mythical conception of a pre-Hispanic society in its movement of greatest glory.

Sones of Michoacan

With their music, these people can boast the supremacy of joyful expression of emotion through dances and songs. The sones or rhythms that frame this colorful scenario make us want to stand up and follow, as if the whole world was just one large and glorious fiesta. This interpretation if sones goes to demonstrate that the recovery and performance of folk dances and songs that make up the musical memory of any society, as we can undeniably establish in these sones and jarabes from Apatzinagan, a land warmed by the caress of the Sun.

In these interpretations, movement and style are a part of history and, as a while, they give us a nostalgic taste of the times and mores of a dazzling region to which only art and folklore have access to: the fantasy of relieving ancient traditions.

Chiapas

A land of fantasy, where we can hold our breaths and contemplate villages, and even cities, that grow in the heart of tropical jungles; Places where the dwellers are happy people that abound in musical inspiration and develop beautiful folk dances.

Dance is the mainspring of life in the regions, and the marimba is almost always played as musical accompaniment because it is created out of the finest and most precious woods. These woods come from both the region as well as those brought from distant lands such as Africa which help to communicate a deep magical sense. Chiapas is filled with dances, at once seductive and gay; the peoples of these lands find their sustenance from the soil, so they sing to the Earth from the heart and offer her lullabies with their ever-present marimbas. Their costumes are inspired by tropical flowers, and reflect the zest and nobleness of the people, the beauty of the golden sands of the coast and the majesty of the wooded mountains.

Tlaxcala’s Carnival (America’s Folklore)

Folklore in Latin America blossoms within the ferias de Carnaval or Carnival Faris, which, simply by the names of the dances performed, give us a clue about the country they emerged from. This is a very special choreography, which integrates the different traditions that have influenced this continent: from the southernmost regions to North America. Everything here evokes the joyous setting of a fair, where natives, mestizos, folklorists and surrealists, among others, combine the boisterous environment of a carnival in the everyday existence of the people.

The term carnival is synonymous with unparalleled glee, a happiness that is shared by one and all, of a never-ending feast where diverse forms of expression come to life hidden behind a mask that conceals a reality that dissolves among the lights and rhythms that speak another language: the language of legends and myths.

These dances are: Feria Rock (Rock Fair), Danza de los paragueros (Dance of the Umbrella Bearers), Vls de Amor (Dance of Love), Danza de la culebra (Dance of the Snake), Tango de Seduccion (Tango of Suduction), Ronda de los siete pecados capitals (Ring-around-a-rosy of the seven capital sins), Toreras y picador, Danza de las cintas (Dance of the Ribbons), Danza de loss cuchillos (Dance of the Knives), Danza funebre (Funerary Dance) and Jota Tlaxcalteca.

Jalisco

Only when one sees and hears a young couple dancing to the accompaniment of traditional folk music, the mariachi and the enormous energy and movement involved in the sones from Jalisco, one can fully understand the joy, grace and beauty that are the hallmark of these people.

Man and woman, both proud and magnificently attired in their colorful costume, which they display in their dance, can be difficult to find elsewhere in Mexico. On stage we can see the strength of the make and the provocativness of the female, finally seduced by her partner in a swirling dance of passion that reflects, in its artistic comings and goings, the thousand and one ways to achieve an ambition as old as time itself: the love of a woman. Then, the man throws down his decorative hat, stating that the final zapateo or tapping which signals the end of the fabulous effort invested in his conquest of love.

The Gods

Here we have the dialogue between man and his gods, the summary of Aztec theology; here we have a dance in the fields of divine mysteries that spins around a cosmological conception that goes beyond life and touches creation. In this dance there is a place for the sun and the moon, the Gods of War, the Flowers and the Myths, all implicit in a movement that charms and, by the same token, terrifies the heart, for it is composed of rhythms that magically recall in our souls strange experiences and sensation that have to do with life and death: offerings to the gods, feasts to the people in order to hide the horror of the unknown, of destruction, of hunger and sacrifice. All of this is transformed here into music and dance.

The gods of the four cardinal points are responsible for giving life and for this man celebrates in a dance, offering sacrifice, lighting with his faith the stage where he lives and, with the fumes of incense that float to the deepest recesses of the world, tries to uproot the evil that stalks his paradise.

The Mayas

If there ever was excellence in art, the Mayan people represent such a civilization, for they transmitted the excellence of love to life, art and dance through generations. Based in a choreography on a Mayan legend, Amalia Hernandez found inspiration in the grand works of architecture and art, this ballet combines the legends with the myths, gods, rituals and the men who created them. As is the case of all pre-Hispanic tradition, we have before us a magical dance that portrays, with rhythms and scenery, a long-gone past full of glory and splendor. The space and time they knew so well are evoked again and again in gestures, expressions and movements that embrace the totality of the universe, in the same way that the engraving on the walls of their temples and the magic of their legends, seem to encompass that totality of creation.

Sugar Crop in Tamaulipas

It is the end of a time of hard work and tears; the zafra, the time for cutting the ripe sugar cane, is an example of the uninterrupted circles of life, where nature and work are the sources of inspiration to celebrate the conclusions of a job well done. There are songs and dances for the time of harvesting; sowing comes; songs and dances for the time of harvesting and even more songs and plenty more dances when propel collect the fruit of this intense human effort, this joyous event in the fields under the scorching sun and water. Therefore, they must all dance in homage to mother earth, to celebrate together a good harvest, a fantastic zafra. So, dressed in their finery and forgetting for the time being their working clothes and aches, men walk out of their doors to dance with their woman in circles traced by the reatas which, surging to the skies, seem to burst into dazzling fireworks that reflect their light in the machetes, in an ardent rite of fertility. They all dance and sing and celebrate this way all night long, under the sparkle of the stars that smile upon them and their joy of life.

Life is a Game

Life is a game and dancing is how man expresses this truth: that life is but a game. What can we expect from a ballet that toys with this concept? Only a work of art that springs from the coming together of the game of life and the art of dancing. The Mexican corridos, which are songs that praise the seeds of the past, and the toy from a place called Metepec, Amalia Hernandez found a bottomless well of inspiration to create a fiesta within the great feast of life. There are rondas (ring-around-a-rossies) and other children’s games; there are dangerous games of love and, no doubt, chance plays its part in the comings and going of humankind. In this game, this dance, the roulette appears closely followed by the shadows of terror, bravery and irony cast by the games of death.

Wedding at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

This is the great universal celebration that seems to mark the end, as well as the beginning of the rites of love. Tehuantepec, a beautiful area in Southern Mexico, offers a great show in every wedding performed there. The ceremony is a mixture of a deep feeling of love, and an intricate and refined sensuality: the harmony of nature, the rites of love, the “kidnappings” that are the paramount expressions of love between man and woman... All of this has an elegant and beautiful manifestation in the Isthmus of Tehuantepes. The unique headdresses, made of white starched cotton, that frame the beautiful oval of the faces, the eyebrows and the tanned cheeks of women, are like the pristine petals of a flower and represent the unwavering love that the couple thus united shall forever share. Their naked feet follow the rhythm of a slow dance; their presents, baskets of flowers and fruit, rest upon their heads. The dance of La Zandunga is very solemn, tempestuous at times, and vibrates with a sense of triumph. The melody has a certain cadence that communicates, by itself, a delicate message of melancholy and eroticism.

The Olmecs

The legendary origins of Mexican civilization, those go back 2000 years in time, have been left to us in magnificent monuments and sculptures. The Olmecs, however, a race of mysterious men, left an inheritance of a very personal cosmic conception of a magical universe, which has served to stimulate the sensitivity of an artist to create this choreography.

This is the environment that gave birth to a dance through which the spectator is compelled to participate of the secrecy of that glorious mother of civilizations, called the Civilization of the Tiger. This dance is composed of three stages: the preparation for the Tiger hunt celebration, the hunt of communion with the tiger, and the ritual dance of Adoration of the Tiger. The participants in this dance are like wonderfully carved jade figurines that seem to move around us.

Costumes

If someone cared to make a statistic study of folkloric costumes, Mexico would take the first place in variety and color. Since Pre-Hispanic times, indigenous civilizations possessed a great treasure in costumes; the Spanish conquistadors brought along their own variety of attires and, later on, the French also made a contribution to this combination of styles, adding new elements. Since 1952, Amalia Hernandez has joined efforts with Dasha, famous theatrical designer, in the analysis of the history of folklore, drawing inspiration from Archeology and recreating styles that can be used in a stage performance, like the famous Mayan Ballet.

Fifteen years ago, Delfina Vargas, Jose Gomez Rosas and Luis Alaminos joined the Ballet Folklórico and contributed several costume designs that have enhanced the magnificence of the Ballet. Guillermo Barclay has designed Tarima from Tixtla, Guerrero, Taxcala and the Concheros.

The work of a costume designer begins with the analysis and selection of the most “theatrical” material; proceeded by an investigation of objects forgotten in time, descriptions obtained and ancient stories heard from villagers, and drawings of vanished civilizations that left behind a collection of codices, sculptures and murals that portray special features of their attire; and ends with the selection of the most characteristic elements that help to create a very definite style that corresponds with each of the different civilizations depicted on stage.

Music

Mexican people express what they are and feel through the music and lyrics of their songs. It is easier to make them sing than to answer the questions of others, or even their own, when they are concerned with their human sensitivity. The constrained vitality that can be measured and expressed forcefully in the songs from Jalisco; the deep feeling which is scrutinized and expressed in the more poetic songs from La Huasteca; the joy of life, the grace and sense of humor in Veracruz. The sensitivity and strength of the native music from the Yaqui region, of the Pluma (The Feather) from Oaxaca and the Matlachines from Aguascalientes; the musical refinement and delicacy of the Tarascan compositions from Michoacan. The vitality and originality of the melodies that originate in the Northern regions: tamboras from Sinaloa, redobas from Nuevo Leon... All of this has been assimilated into the Ballet Folklorico to emphasize the musical feeling of the Mexican People.

Choreography

The choreography of the Ballet Folklorico combines historical research and creativity. Original elements are used to recreate ancient and traditional dances.

Amalia Hernandez must travel through many places in search for the living essence of the celebrations, which she captures in film in order to study and assimilate them. The sculptures, murals and films of those dances still alive, are the source of inspiration for the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico.

Once the subject or argument has been selected, it is necessary to define the style that must characterize the play: it will either be realistic or stylized, and therefore it is also necessary to resort to the choreography and dance steps described by the chroniclers of the Colonial era. Next, the choreographer must choose and elaborate on the argument, so that players and dancers may be clearly defined. It is essential that choreography be natural and congruent with dance steps, scenography, wardrobe design and lighting; there should be a perfect unity in style to give the show a definite personality. As is well known, choreography is the core of any ballet, its every detail gives context to the efforts of the corps de ballet; in other words, choreography is the quality of the spectacle.

Terms Commonly Used in Folkloric Dance

Zapateado (sah-pay-tay–áh-do) refers to a combination of dance steps that are executed swiftly and vigorously. Each of the 31 Mexican states (and the Federal District) has its typical zapateados. For example, in Jalisco, the zapateado is danced to a three-beat rhythm.

Picoteado (pee-co-tay-áh-do) is an alternating foot movement in which the dancer’s toe, then heel, touch the floor. The movement has a brisk quality to it as the dancer quickly rolls hi/her foot from toe to heel.

Lazado (lah-sah-do) refers to a circular inward motion of the leg.

Remate (ray-máh-tay) is a sequence of steps that punctuates a phrasing of steps. The remate is characterized by a stomping-like quality.

Faldeo (fahl-d”ay-o) refers to a movement of the skirt which the female dancer creates with her hand/hands.

Ballet Folklórico of México, founded and directed by dancer choreographer Amalia Hernandez, captures the beauty of the universe in motion starting with pre-Colombian civilizations, growing Spanish influences of the Vice-Royal era up to the popular strength of the Revolutionary years. The present time fades before your eyes and thus commences our journey through the past. The Lords of Heaven and Earth come back to life, the Jaguars, the Gods born of human flesh, thirty different cultures that once blossomed in ancient centuries, leaving behind a trail of color. The music, technical perfection, sophisticated wardrobe and original choreography create this singular ballet experience.

Ballet Folkorico de Mexico Amalia Hernandez

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Ballet Folklorico de Mexico - Amalia Hernadez

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