Dance is a way to express feelings and thoughts through movement. A recent matinee showing at the Ballet Hispanico demonstrated how culture and dance can merge to form a vehicle to communicate an instance, a feeling, and an experience. Founded by Tina Ramirez, a Venezuelan American choreographer and Dancer, Ballet Hispanico is a Manhattan based American dance company that presents dances reflective of Latino and Hispanic-American experiences since 1970. The company works with forty-five choreographers worldwide and has a repertoire of more than seventy-five works. Commissioning almost 80 works and having acquired eleven more, there is a distinct variety in the performances offered at the Ballet Hispanico. The matinee showing that began April 5th, 2016, and ended April 10th, 2016 featured a performance called "CLUB HAVANA" that was choreographed by Pedro Rulz. Music was by several artists that included Perez Prado, Ruben Gonzalez, and Francisco Repilado. Showing all five days at 7:30pm, Ghabriello Fernando designed the costumes and Donald Holder designed the lighting. This was the first and main performance I saw and featured several dances. Two of my favorites were the Cha Cha Cha and Bolero.

The reason these two...

Everything felt and looked so rich and colorful. The dancers' bright smiles contrasted perfectly with the darker tones of the clothing. The backdrop felt like the blood and vitality of a dancer as it the light in the center was brightest with the edges and the bottom remaining darker.
The music was also amazing to hear because of the constant percussion. The percussive instruments were fast paced and there was intensity to even just the flick of the hand as a dancer turned or held on to their partner. While some of the dancers were not in sync, in fact, it happened in each dance, they danced with energy and vitality.

Unfortunately, the synchronicity was a problem. Dancers were off beat at times and had to skip steps in order to catch up with the other dancers. That looks unprofessional. The partner work was good at times with some lifts and exciting turns.

My least favorite was the Rhumba, Conga. That is because while it was the most indicative of Ballet Hispanico due to the culture represented so well by the music and again, percussion, it felt rushed and that is where I saw most of the timing issues. Some…