On Nov. 8, the dance floor may not literally have been open at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, but there’s a good chance folks were moving in their seats as The Orchestra San Antonio presented a program called “Dancing Through Time.”
As conductor Leonardo Pineda announced from the stage, the orchestra was “exploring dance and the power it has to connect us.”
The music took us all the way back to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, which has been called the “apotheosis of the dance.” And then forward in time to music of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera, then the popular “Danzon No. 2” of Arturo Márquez, and the San Antonio premiere of a new piece by Juan Pablo Contreras called “MeChicano.”
Contreras opened the show, introducing his piece as “A celebration of the Mexican American communities that have flourished in the U.S.”
He said the music also incorporates the many dance elements that define Mexican American music, including cumbia, Latin rock, polka, and a Mexican waltz.
Let yourself go, and enjoy this rhythmic program of music from The Orchestra San Antonio by using the audio player at the top of this page!
PROGRAM:
- Juan Pablo Contreras: MeChicano
- Arturo Márquez: Danzon No. 2
- Alberto Ginastera: Estancia
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
