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A staged dance production of "Valentina" on Friday night will honor the women who participated in the Mexican Revolution.
This production combines ballet with folklórico and contemporary dance.
Andrea Guajardo produces Ballet Nepantla.
“I am a South Texas native, born and raised in Edinburgh, Texas," she said. "I moved to New York City when I was 17 to pursue my dream of one day wanting to become a professional dancer.”
After finishing college, she succeeded in that initial endeavor, and then she began her own troupe.
“Wanting to really find myself and my voice and who I was through dance and in founding Ballet Nepantla by fusing my culture as a Mexican American and my dance background as a ballet and contemporary dancer, it's truly, it's really been a way to express truly who I am,” she said.
Combining folklórico with ballet and contemporary dance and then presenting them together, took quite a risk, but she apparently pulled it off.
“It's really been a way to express truly who I am and to find myself and be able to share that, with national and international audiences, and hopefully bringing together audiences that wouldn't normally be in the same spaces,” Guajardo said.
This fusion of ballet, folklórico and contemporary dance is at the heart of what she’s created in the production called "Valentina."
“There are too many rich stories, and there's so much music from this time period. And we can really weave all these stories together,” she said.
This is an event that all age groups can enjoy.
“It is for the whole family. This is a show that we have toured all over the country, and we brought to elementary schools. And we've had elementary schools, even here in New York City, bused in to watch the show,” Guajardo said.
You can catch "Valentina" Friday night. It's a one-night engagement at the Carver Community Cultural Center in the Jo Long Theater.
