Ballet Hispanico comes to town to dance - and teach.Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard Natalia Alonso was just another pretty ballerina before a knee injury in high school made her start thinking seriously about her choice of work. It was just about time for her to apply to colleges, and Alonso realized she might want to consider a career that couldn't be suddenly destroyed by a torn cartilage. So she gave up dance, sort of, and went to Wesleyan University Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1831. There are special cooperative study programs with the California Institute of Technology and the engineering department of Columbia Univ. , where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. Economics? "That's sort of my opposite personality," she said by phone from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . But dance kept calling. She never entirely left the dance scene. Alonso attended summer programs with Alvin Ailey Noun 1. Alvin Ailey - United States choreographer noted for his use of African elements (born in 1931) Ailey , but during the school year she hit the books. "By the time I graduated I knew that, really, what I wanted to be wasn't sitting in an office or in a library," she said. "I decided to see if I could get back in shape and get a job." Getting a dance job didn't take long. Alonso auditioned for Ballet Hispanico, the company that was founded by Tina Ramirez Tina Ramirez (born ca. 1928) is an American dancer and choreographer, best known as the founder of Ballet Hispanico, the leading Hispanic dance company in the United States. Ramirez was born in Venezuela and moved to New York City at age 7. in 1970, and joined the company in January 2001. It seemed a good fit. "Hey," she said, "I love ballet and I'm Hispanic. I thought it could kind of work." She's one of 13 dancers coming to Eugene this weekend for a performance and, the night before that, a Latin dance The term Latin dance has two meanings, depending on whether the context is social or ballroom dance. Dances from Latin America First, dances originating in Latin America. Typically these are Cha cha cha, Rumba, Samba, Salsa, Mambo, Merengue, Bachata, Cumbia, Bolero. party at the Hult Center. At the Friday night dance party she and local Salsa instructor Jose Cruz Jose Luis Cruz (Cheo) can refer to different people:
After growing up in classical ballet Noun 1. classical ballet - a style of ballet based on precise conventional steps performed with graceful and flowing movements ballet, concert dance - a theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers , Alonso said she has enjoyed the variety of styles she dances with Ballet Hispanico. On Saturday Ballet Hispanico will perform two pieces - "Tierra de Nadie" and "Ritmo y Ruido" - along with excerpts from the company's other repertory. ``Tierra de Nadie'' (``No Man's Land'') is an athletic piece that has dancers working on and off a set of bleachers on the stage. "Ritmo y Ruido," an abstract piece, is "hot, sexy and exciting," Alonso said. The Boston Globe said this about the piece: The dance "managed just the right combination of grace, humor and athleticism. ... By the time it came to its twirling Twirling is any of several artforms, hobbies, or sport and recreational activities accomplished by spinning or rotating the twirled object either for exercise, or in a rhythmic, or otherwise artful manner. , running, jumping finish, the crowd was breathless and the standing ovation was a foregone conclusion.' Now 28, Alonso still realizes that dance is not forever. But instead of thinking, as do so many dancers, that she'll open her own studio some day when her joints give out, she figures she's got that economics degree to fall back on. "I can see myself in arts administration Arts administration is a college or university discipline which prepares people for careers as arts administrators and managers of arts and cultural organizations such as orchestras, theater companies, or museums. somehow," she said. "Arts funding, or something more behind-the-scenes of arts in America. That is probably where I would go. As a dancer you don't have a long career, so you have to see how you can blend your love and your art with something that can last a longer time." DANCE PREVIEW Ballet Hispanico What: New York-based dance troupe plans two events, an educational ``dance party'' and a performace Dance party: 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday offering Latin dance pointers; $15 Concert: 8 p.m. Saturday; $22-$35 Where: Both at the Hult Center's Silva Hall, Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street Tickets: Call 682-5000 |
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