Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and GOYA FOODS proudly presents BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO DE AMALIA HERNÁNDEZ U.S./Mexico Unity Tour 2018 celebrating our shared cultural history on Saturday, November 18th, 2018 at 4pm. Mexico’s most prestigious folkloric dance company presents a colorful evening of traditional dance and music with sophisticated costumes, and powerful and accomplished dancers. Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández returns to Lehman Center as part of their extended U.S./Mexico Unity Tour 2018 featuring renowned performances of the company’s classic choreography. This company is the number one promoter of Mexican dance throughout the world. Take a journey into the diverse Mexican cultures – past and present!
This concert continues the completion of the first phase of renovations at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts. Concert goers will find that the lobbies have been upgraded for ADA compliance with new ramps and carpeting, and the interior of the theater will have new seating, carpeted aisles, and finished flooring as well. The $15.4 million dollar refurbishment of the Center, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019, will also include 5,400 square feet of enlarged space, with a new main entrance and a redesigned box office, plus new administration offices and restroom facilities on the first and mezzanine floors, and an elevator. The Center seats 2,278 people in the concert hall and is the largest of its kind in the borough. Funding for the project is being provided by the Office of the Governor, the New York State Legislature, the Bronx delegation of the New York City Council, and the Office of the Bronx Borough President. Additional funding is being raised with a seat naming initiative, which allows community members to make a personal connection with one of New York City’s most important not-for-profit entertainment venues.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO on Saturday, November 18th, 2018 at 4pm are $45, $40, $25 | Children 12 & under, $10 any seat, and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 2pm on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.
In 1952, dancer and choreographer AMALIA HERNÁNDEZ founded the BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO, having embarked at a very early age on a never-ending quest to rescue the dancing traditions of Mexico. This vital search became a basic need to express not only in Mexico, but also in the rest of the world. Her goal was to share the beauty of the Universe in motion through Mexican dances from the Pre-Colombian era, the Hispanic Viceroy period, and the popular period of the Revolutionary years. In 1954, Amalia began to garner recognition as a highly respected cultural representative of Mexico. In her earliest ballets, the audience sees the present time fade before their eyes, as they enter into a journey through the past: the lords of heaven and earth come back to life, the jaguars, the gods born of human flesh; and thirty different cultures that blossomed in centuries past leave behind a trail of color. All of these elements together gave Amalia Hernández the inspiration to create the Ballet Folklórico de México. A weekly program on Mexican television sponsored by the government aired the Ballet’s initial performances. Merely a few years into their formation, the company achieved a degree of international success that has been maintained for over fifty years. Amalia Hernández and the Ballet Folklórico de México have since created over forty ballets for upwards of seventy dancers. The music, technical rigor, elaborate costuming and Amalia’s choreography have helped the Ballet and its followers disseminate the zest for rich Mexican tradition and folklore throughout the world. Since 1959, the company has been permanently housed at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. The institution has two main artistic companies called The First Company and the Resident Company, both whom alternate tours and performances in Mexico and abroad. The company has currently given over 5,000 performances, and both Amalia Hernández and the Ballet Folklórico de México have been distinguished with more than 300 awards recognizing their artistic merits.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2018-2019 Season is also made possible through the sponsorships by Goya Foods, TD Bank, Con Edison, the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, the Rudin Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, Havana Café, and the Friends of Lehman Center.
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