SU’s Pulse to present Latin dance company Ballet Hispanico Oct. 10 in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month

SU’s Pulse to present Latin dance company Ballet Hispanico Oct. 10 in honor of National Hispanic Heritage MonthSeptember 26, 2006Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Ballet Hispanico Company will perform its distinctive blend of ballet, modern and Latin dance Tuesday, Oct. 10, at Syracuse University. The performance is part of the 2006-07 SU Pulse season and is co-sponsored by La L.U.C.H.A., the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Latino-Latin American Studies Program of The College of Arts and Sciences.

The performance will take place at 8 p.m. in Goldstein Auditorium in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center. Tickets — $5 for SU students with valid SU I.D.; $10 for SU faculty, staff and alumni; and $20 for the general public — can be purchased at the Schine Student Center Box Office, (315) 443-4517. Free parking for the public is available in the Marion and Waverly lots. Paid parking is available in the Sheraton Garage.

Celebrated for its innovative repertory and sizzling artistry, Ballet Hispanico embodies the vitality of Hispanic culture and its contributions to contemporary dance and modern American culture. Established in 1970 by Tina Ramirez, the New York City-based company performs works inspired by Hispanic culture, set in a lively and colorful atmosphere that celebrates Latino heritage.

Since establishing the company, Ramirez has commissioned more than 70 new works for its innovative repertory. The highlight of the SU performance is choreographer Alexandre Magno’s reinterpretation of the ancient myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Drawing on the dance traditions and sensual rhythms of his native Brazil, and set amid the poverty and passions of a Brazilian favela (slum), his dramatic 2005 dance, “Orfeu in the Carnaval of Souls,” is not to be missed.

A pioneer in the field of arts education, Ballet Hispanico also sponsors an education initiative, Primeros Pasos (“First Steps”), which last year brought the company’s blend of dance and Hispanic culture to more than 20,000 public school students and teachers in New York City and across the nation. New York City-based programs include an annual series of Performances for Young People and multi-week residencies in classrooms throughout the metropolitan area.

“Ballet Hispanico’s visit involves the campus as well as the Syracuse community, which is why the Pulse program is so vital to us,” says Carole Brzozowski, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). “In addition to the Pulse performance, the company will be working with both SU and Nottingham High School students, many of whom will be learning about this style of dance for the first time.”

Pulse provides SU students and the Central New York community with opportunities to attend and participate in programs, performances, exhibitions and events in the visual and performing arts. It is a collaborative project of SU’s Division of Student Affairs and VPA.

Pulse is now hosting weekly podcasts on its website, http://pulse.syr.edu, and will feature a preview of the Ballet Hispanico performance Oct. 5-11. Graduate students in the Goldring Arts Journalism Program in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications produce the podcasts.