LUNA NEGRA DANCE THEATER
with special guests
TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET and PAQUITO D’RIVERA

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College kicks off its 2009-2010 World Stages: Dance series on Sunday, October 25 at 2pm with Chicago-based Luna Negra Dance Theater, performing a program of works by Latino choreographers including the New York premiere of Danzón, a new piece created by Luna Negra’s former artistic director, Eduardo Vilaro.  The company will be joined onstage by special guests Turtle Island Quartet and the legendary Paquito D’Rivera, who will provide live accompaniment for Danzón.

"Equally irresistible is the emotional fire and technical wizardry [Luna Negra] demonstrates at every turn.  As close to perfection as it gets."
– Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

The afternoon’s performance will feature three works.  Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Nube Blanco (2009) is inspired by the choreographer’s childhood memories of the beautiful songs of Maria Dolores Pradera.  Lopez Ochoa integrates brilliantly the Spanish zapateado technique or footwork that is found in flamenco dance and gives it a contemporary twist.  Set to the music of Gustavo Santaolalla, Sugar in the Raw (2007) is, according to choreographer Michelle Manzanales, "an exploration of who we are in our purest form."  Finally, choreographer and former Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro returns to his own roots with the creation of a new work entitled Danzón, inspired by the official dance of Cuba and set to Turtle Island Quartet and Paquito D’Rivera’s acclaimed 2002 recording of the same name.  In partnering with two Grammy Award-winning artists, Vilaro takes this quintessentially Cuban dance form and reinvents it into a modern work of art, introducing mainstream American audiences to a thriving Latino tradition and creating a milestone moment in the continuity of Latino artistic expression. All three pieces feature lighting design by Josh Preston and costume design by Edith Arias.

About Luna Negra Dance Theater
In just ten years, Luna Negra Dance Theater has established itself as a significant and vital component of Chicago’s arts and cultural community.  Since Eduardo Vilaro founded Luna Negra in 1999, the company has served as a springboard for Latino contemporary choreographers to give expression to their stories and bring new life to the cultures of their communities.  Steering away from stereotypes and folkloric representations, Luna Negra offers its audiences energetic, powerful, and passionate contemporary Latino dance, reflecting the immense cultural shift that is shaping America in the 21st century.

Luna Negra’s distinctive style blends the discipline of ballet with the dynamic movements of contemporary dance, infused with the explosive energy of Latin and Afro-Caribbean dance forms. The company prides itself in presenting the works of renowned Latino master choreographers such as Vicente Nebrada and José Limón, as well as contemporary Latino choreographers Septime Webre, Alejandro Cervera, Michelle Manzanales, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and others. The company also collaborates with visual artists, media artists, musicians and composers, including the world renowned Peruvian singer Susana Baca, Chicago Sinfonietta, Tiempo Libre.  These collaborations have fostered innovative cross-disciplinary explorations resulting in richly textured and highly original, contemporary dance theater. Luna Negra makes its home in Chicago at the Harris Theater and performs regularly at Ravinia. The company also tours extensively nationally and internationally. 

Luna Negra Dance Theater with special guests Turtle Island Quartet and Paquito D’Rivera
Walt Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College
2900 Campus Road, Brooklyn
Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 2pm; Tickets $30
Online orders:

BrooklynCenterOnline.org

Box Office: (718) 951-4500, Tuesday – Saturday, 1PM – 6PM
Subscription Orders/Season Brochure Requests:  (718) 951-4600, ext. 25
Groups of 15 or more: (718) 951-4600, ext. 33

Luna Negra Dance Theater, photography © Kristie Kahns

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