Although she died in 2000, Ballet Folklorico?s founding artistic director Amalia Hernandez continued to research Mexico?s many native cultures and create new folkloric dances right up until her death. She left the company in the competent hands of her daughter, Norma Lopez Hernandez, who, along with her son, has kept a full company in residence at the Palacios de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, with a 58-member company performing annually on tours to the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez brings its full company to Conway with two performances on the stage of Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at UCA on Thursday and Friday, October 12 & 13, at 7:30 pm. It is the second show on the 2006-2007 UCA Public Appearances Season.
Ballet Folklorico is sponsored in part by Mid-America Arts Alliance, with generous underwriting from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arkansas Arts Council, and foundations, corporations, families, and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. UCA Public Appearances? season is sponsored by TIAA-CREF, the financial services company.
Tickets for the October 12 & 13 shows are still available and can be purchased by calling UCA Ticket Central between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm, Monday through Friday, at 1-866-810-0012 (toll free in Arkansas). Conway residents should call 450-3682. General public tickets are available online at www.uca.edu/publicappearances. Ticket costs range from $12 (students 12 years old and younger) to $35, depending on patron status and seat location. UCA students, faculty, and staff members can receive two free tickets to one of the shows, pending availability. UCA students must present their UCA I. D. at the box office to receive tickets.
For the first time, family tickets are offered for Ballet Folklorico and three other shows in the 2006-2007 Season (Ball in the House, Soweto Gospel Choir, Diavolo). A family can purchase $12 tickets, with a minimum of four members and a maximum of ten members. An adult must accompany the family group, and payment for the group must be made by a single method. Call UCA Ticket Central for more information.
Guy Couch, director of UCA Public Appearances, says UCA is trying to build audiences of the future. ?We are eager for all Arkansans to discover Reynolds Performance Hall and experience the performances – like Ballet Folklorico — that we are bringing to the State. Once a family enjoys a high-quality show in this great performance hall, we hope they will come back again and again with their entire family.?
In 1952, dancer and choreographer Amalia Hern?ndez founded the Ballet Folkl?rico de Mexico, with the aim of rescuing the historic folk dance traditions of Mexico. Amalia soon began to garner recognition as a cultural representative of Mexico with her early works. During these first few years, the company achieved a degree of international success that has been maintained for over fifty years. It has succeeded in disseminating the rich traditions and folklore of Mexico all over the world. Amalia Hernandez and Ballet Folklorico de Mexico created over forty ballets for its seventy dancers. The music, technical rigor, elaborate costuming, and Amalia?s choreography have created a singular artistic character that defines the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico.
Since 1959, the company has been permanently housed at the Palacios de Bellas Artes, the foremost stage for the arts in Mexico City. The company has given over 5000 performances around the world, and both Amalia Hernandez and the Ballet Folkl?rico de Mexico have been distinguished with more than 200 awards recognizing their artistic merits.
