Photographer: Patrician lane.
Immigration, DACA, national relationships and the talk of building actual walls creates a conversation that can be controversial, heated, volatile and emotional.
Addressing these issues head on is contemporary dance company, Dance NOW! Miami, co-directed by Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini. The performance is the culmination of a two year collaboration with Mexico City Ballet/ Compañia de Danza Clásica Quintana Roo (MXCB/CDCQROO), who will be joining Dance NOW in Miami. Both companies will be coordinating to present “Bridges NOT Walls/ Puentes NO Muros" reflecting fear, isolation and the beauty that can be found in unity.
The performance is Saturday, May 19 at the Colony Theater.
The collaboration itself has been a process of communication and working together. Baumgarten and Salterini initially performed "Bridges" in Miami before taking their company to Mexico City and Quintana Roo to work with the local dancers there, integrating them into "Bridges." Now, in the final stage, the Mexican company will come to Miami to once again perform in the updated version of "Bridges" and bring their own piece of choreography, “Puentes NO Muros” that will also include Dance NOW dancers.
Photographer: Patrician lane.
Speaking from Mexico, co-director of MXCB/CDCQROO, Jasmany Hernández said, “Political situations have always divided people, and what we want to expose with this collaboration is the actual act of collaborating, through dance, on a mutual project that erases these political lines and lets us all be humans.”
Baumgarten said that the collaboration hit home on many levels.
“Jasmany escaped from Cuba to Mexico and Diego is Italian, now a United States citizen. We are addressing more than what is going on between Mexico and the United States. It is what our experience is here that is echoed in many other places.”
Salterini continues. “We wanted to focus not only on immigration and where you land, but the effect that immigration has in the location that you leave. What causes you to leave? You wouldn’t leave your country unless you had a very good reason, unless you were forced to. There is a humanity to it. We all have a heartbeat, we’re all the same that way, we’re all united.”
While the music for "Bridges" is a compilation of various contemporary pieces, one special section resonated deeply with Baumgarten and Salterini. It is from a Sicilian island where most immigrants land when they enter Italy to escape their homeland. The music is a lullaby of a woman who has left her home singing her child to sleep. The serene music is a somber reminder of being part of a new place.
There's a bombastic quality in its choreography within moments of serenity, and there is sense of desperation and volatility in much of the movement as if it is a representation of the need to get somewhere else and be part of a new home.
Baumgarten explains. “There is a drive, an urgency to define who we are. We are seeking something. We are human.”
Photographer: Patrician lane.
Yazmín Barragán, co-director with Hernández, has choreographed “Puentes NO Muros” which will integrate DanceNOW dancers when the company arrives to Miami. The piece addresses the horrific challenges faced when attempting to realize “The American Dream.”
"The Mexican dancers are classically trained, but 'Puentes NO Muros' is a contemporary piece. We know Dance NOW dancers are also versatile, and this is part of what makes it interesting. The mix of both companies shows that our project is moved by emotions and feelings brought to life by dancers that need to express as artists no matter what movement style we ask from them," says Hernández.
South Florida-based Francisco Javier Moraga Escalona has created impactful video projections that have a presence throughout the entire "Bridges" piece. Many times, the strong visual imagery made defining moments in the process, according to the choreographers. They say it was a balancing act between the dance and video to let the projections speak for themselves.
Monica Montaño is the organizer and presenter from Mexico who worked closely with Salterini to bring this collaboration to fruition.
“We are definitely sending a message,” says Montaño. “I like this project, especially, because it’s a message from both sides. It is a great opportunity to show people, the dancers, and the arts community that we are in this together.”
“Dancers, from the start of this project, have had a reflective process about the political situation and what the pieces mean to all dancers, no matter what company they belong to. They all are somehow related to someone who has a story with crossing the border and that makes them feel intensely; we hope this can be perceived the audience,” says Hernández.
Dance is said to be a universal language that is able to transcend barriers.
“We want to create bridges between humans that disintegrate all the walls that are built without our consent," says Hernández. “We are happy that we have achieved presenting this project in both countries, demonstrating through dance that we do have a universal language that can be understood on both sides of borders.”"Bridges NOT Walls/Puentes NO Muros” featuring Mexico City Ballet/Compañia de Danza Clásica Quintana Roo and Dance NOW! Miami
Saturday, May 19 at 8:30 pm
Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL 33139, (305) 674-1040
$35 general admission, $15 students/seniors (at the box office in-person only). Regular price tickets can be purchased in advance online at tinyurl.com/Puentes-Bridges and by phone at (800) 211-1414, or in-person tickets at the Colony Theatre box office
www.dancenowmiami.org (305) 975-8489 info@dancenowmiami.org
