Santa Fe report: the pulse of nature.The quiet, stark beauty of northern New Mexico Northern New Mexico may simply mean the northern part of New Mexico, but in cultural terms it usually means the area of heavy Spanish settlement in the north-central part. sustains a vibrant dance community, one that draws inspiration from its tricultural traditions--Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo. In addition, the recent renovation of a former movie palace, now the Lensic Performing Arts Center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. , offers Santa Fe Santa Fe, city, Argentina Santa Fe, city (1991 pop. 341,000), capital of Santa Fe prov., NE Argentina, a river port near the Paraná, with which it is connected by canal. (population: 63,000) an outstanding venue for dance. And when a muscle pulls or a ligament tears, all manner of body workers are available: Gyrotonic, Nia, Watsu, yoga, and of course, Pilates. Maya Ward Aubrey, a former Paul Sanasardo dancer who is now a Pilates instructor, says, "There are more former dancers in Santa Fe than you can shake a stick at, doing body work." Recently, four prominent companies--Moving People Dance Theatre (MPDT MPDT Multi-Peer Data Transmission MPDT Multi-Pole Dual Throw (switch) MPDT Message Preparation & Dissemination Terminal ), National Dance Institute of New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). (NDI-NM), Cathy Roe's Something in the Air Dance Company, and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet has established itself as one of America's leading contemporary dance companies. Its eleven classically trained dancers, perform an eclectic repertoire by some of the world’s foremost choreographers. (ASFB ASFB Australian Society for Fish Biology (Australia) ASFB Application Specific Function Block )-collaborated on a concert that represents an ebullient first effort to share the city's teaching and performing talent. In addition to each showcasing their own dances, the finale featured 75 students performing a dance with a section by each company's artistic director. Folkloric and flamenco companies add electricity to the scene. Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco, Janelle Ayon's Danza Folklorica de Santa Fe, Joaquin Encinias's Yjastros, Pablo Rodarte's Dance Espana, and Brigida Lujan's Dulce Flamenco each represent a different aspect of Spanish and Central American dance. Benitez's work is mainly dark, intense traditional flamenco. Encinias's company adds the flavor of urban Spain, in costume and choreography. Rodarte and Lujan present a brighter, wider, more playful palette. Ayon, who dances each summer with Ballet Folklorico de Mexico Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is a folkloric ballet ensemble in Mexico City. For five decades it has presented dances in costumes that reflect the traditional culture of Mexico. The ensemble has appeared under the name, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez. de Amalia Hernandez, teaches her company the delightful regional folk dances of Mexico. Each of these companies has a school and teaches a retinue of youngsters. Eva Encinias-Sandoval ("Teacher's Wisdom," DM, June 2004) heads an outstanding flamenco arts degree program at The University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM) is a public university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was founded in 1889. It also offers multiple bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs in all areas of the arts, sciences, and engineering. in Albuquerque, the only program in North America offering undergraduate and graduate majors in flamenco. Combining ethnic influences with modern dance, Rulan Tangen and Zuleikha shine among solo artists who tour the world, but choose Santa Fe as their sanctuary. Zuleikha weaves elegant humor, sumptuous music, costumes, and dance into stories from nature, world lore, and life itself. Tangen blends her Native American heritage with ballet, modern, and hip hop for her indigenous company, Dancing Earth. They headlined the first Red Rhythms aboriginal dance conference at the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). Riverside last autumn. Like Raymond Kurshals, the former Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp dancer who retired here to teach Pilates, these artists speak of the return to the beauty of Santa Fe as necessary for creative inspiration--what Zuleikha calls "the spaciousness of nature." MPDT's Ronn Stewart claims his choreographic muse shuts down when he's training and performing in larger dance centers. Beginning this summer, Stewart and partner Layla Amis will produce The Santa Fe Dance Festival, featuring dancers with national reputations. Convinced of Santa Fe's burgeoning dance future, local dance instructor Kim Caffrey has proposed a forum to preserve dance forms, the Dance Art Museum of the Americas. Still in the planning stages, Caffrey has designed a high-tech show-and-tell dance history resource that might cultivate general interest in the art form. |
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