At the Cenart, a Huateque of Tradition and Scene was experienced with jubilation.

▲ The Laboratorio Escénico Danza Teatro Ritual participated in the celebration of International Dance Day with the butoh piece "El sueño de la Luna" (The Dream of the Moon). Photo by Michael Blase

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, p. 5

With a Huateque of Tradition and Scene, performed by a thousand dancers, the National Center for the Arts (Cenart) began the celebrations for International Dance Day last Saturday.

The program included performances, master classes, lectures, discussions, comparsas, and free workshops, as well as the sale of dance merchandise, in 13 Cenart spaces.

Attendees enjoyed classical, contemporary, and experimental performances, as well as folklore, flamenco, butoh, tango, danzón, Arabic, and Indian dance.

The activities began at the Plaza de las Artes with Tierra de danzas, which revives the traditional dances of the Milpa Alta municipality; it was also presented in the context of the Year of the Indigenous Woman.

Among the lectures offered were The Presence of Indigenous Women in Stage Dance and The Representation of Indigenous Peoples in Mexican Folk Dance, both held in the José Vasconcelos lecture hall.

At the Teatro de las Artes, the experimental folklore company Danzariega presented Pero esta... es una voz en marcha (But This... Is a Voice in Motion ); later, it was Paula Villaurrutia's turn with the one-woman show Flores blancas (White Flowers).

The Huateque of Tradition and Scene continued yesterday in Plaza Legorreta with the presentation, from Huachinango, Puebla, of Yeyécatl (a dance of voladores, huahuas, and sones); at 2:00 PM in the main auditorium, the discussion "The Zapatista Movement and Dance" took place; and at 4:00 PM, in the Theater of the Arts, "When They Tried to Silence Me... I Danced!" by the Independent Folkloric Ensemble of Amecameca.

Later, the play "Woman, Site of Memories" was performed at the Teatro de las Artes by the Jóvenes Zapateadores company from Jalapa, Veracruz, and the activities concluded with the traditional Oaxacan band Niz Dua Ban-d.

Among the groups that participated in the world day dedicated to the art of dance were the Mexican Dance Academy, the Herencia Mestiza Folkloric Ballet, the Choreographic Workshop of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the National School of Classical and Contemporary Dance, Danza Capital, Siroco Danza Contemporánea, Colectivo Sobre-Saltos, Leviatán Dance Project, the Contemporary Dance Production Center, Flamencalli, and Unum Corpus Creaciones Escénicas.

The Huateque of Tradition and Scene also included dance for babies in the Blas Galindo auditorium with the Ensemble of Alientos and the show Baby Dance, and the presentation of the book Nobody Can Take Away What I Danced: Memory and Experience of a Dancer, by Solange Lebourges.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, p. 5

Barro Rojo Performing Arts, the Contemporary Dance Production Center, the Oscar Ruvalcaba Contemporary Dance Company, Mexican Flamenco, the Choreographic Workshop and Youth Contemporary Dance Company of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the National Dance Company, Hip Folk, and Amada Domínguez are some of the groups that will celebrate International Dance Day today.

The Centro Cultural del Bosque (CCB), the Jardín Escénico, and the National School of Folkloric Dance will host Pluriversal Dances, an event organized by the federal Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL).

The program includes a variety of genres, from folk, world, and urban dance to classical, neoclassical, contemporary, tango, flamenco, and experimental offerings.

Choreography, video dance and documentaries, classes, workshops, laboratories, talks, performance conferences, and reflection circles are also part of the commemoration.

From 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., approximately 145 free activities will be presented, with the participation of more than 1,200 cultural dance representatives from across the country.

At the presentation of Danzas Pluriversales, Inbal's deputy director general, Haydee Boetto Bárcena, stated that independent companies and groups with diverse backgrounds that reflect intergenerational dialogue in pursuit of the development of the dance field in Mexico are also scheduled .

The opening performance will be held at the Guillermina Bravo Dance Theater with a presentation of Afromexicanos by the Afro Rhythm Company Mujeres Sangre Nueva at 10:00 a.m. The closing performance will be held at the Ángel Salas Plaza of the CCB with Escena Ballroom at 8:30 p.m., featuring a showcase of this dance style by a Mexican collective.

More than a dozen scenarios

The performances will take place in 16 venues, including the cultural center's theaters, the forums and green areas of the Scenic Garden, the halls of the National School of Folkloric Dance, as well as plazas and alternative spaces at the CCB.

The academic activities will be led by creators, researchers, and scene managers, such as Rossana Filomarino, Lígia Tourinho (Brazil), María Julia Rodríguez Sivera (Argentina), Lo Coletti, Pablo Parga, Isabel Romero, Sara Gómez, Jesús Laredo, and Héctor Garay, among others.

The participating artists and groups come from Aguascalientes, Baja California, Campeche, Mexico City, Chihuahua, Coahuila, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nuevo León, Puebla, Querétaro, Sinaloa, Sonora, Veracruz and Yucatán.

It was announced that the activities are free; in addition, there will be discounted specialized books on sale throughout the day.

The full program can be found on the National Dance Coordination website and on its social media (@danzainbal).

Since 1982, April 29th has been celebrated as Dance Day, promoted by the International Dance Council and the International Theatre Institute, and supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Fabiola Palapa Quijas

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, p. 5

The Choreographic Workshop of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (TCUNAM) joins the celebration of International Dance Day, commemorated every April 29 since 1982, with a program that includes the premiere of the work Nosarrastra, by choreographer Édgar Zendejas, inspired by the poem Patrolling Barnegat , by Walt Whitman.

The group, directed by Irina Marcano, will perform tomorrow at the Orientación Theater of the Centro Cultural del Bosque and on May 4 at the Miguel Covarrubias Hall of the University Cultural Center (CCU).

Zendejas, a choreographer with a distinguished career in Mexico, Canada, and the United States, expressed that his work explores the human struggle against nature and the internal forces that inhabit our being.

"Whitman's poem speaks of a savage trinity: the sea, the wind, and the darkness of night. These natural events can be beautiful or catastrophic.

In the work, the sea symbolizes the deepest emotions of human beings; the wind is a constant murmur of thoughts; and the darkness represents fear , the choreographer and founder of the Ezdanza company explains to La Jornada .

Through metaphors, Zendejas reflects in Nosarrastra on how external and internal adversity defines and transforms us. The work captures the constant struggle to move forward in the face of the impossible, revealing the capacity for resilience—hence the phrase , "After the storm comes peace ."

The choreography was composed by composer Hugo Morales Zendejas, accompanied by Sofía Escamilla Galindo (cello) and Adrián Robledo (bass clarinet). The musicians will perform live at the May 4th performance.

Regarding the experience of working with the TCUNAM, Édgar Zendejas commented that the dancers are talented and can work with different styles and artists. They adapted what he proposed without losing their personality; as a choreographer, seeing my work performed by other artists fulfills me .

In addition to premiering Nosarrastra, the TCUNAM program includes contemporary offerings such as Enigma and Vals capricho by Irina Marcano; the bolero Te fuiste a tiempo by Carla Segovia and Guillermo Aguilar; Huma by Melva Olivas; and Ionización by Gloria Contreras, a piece based on the eponymous score by French-American Edgard Varése.

The presentation on April 29 at the CCB's Orientación Theater (Paseo de la Reforma and Campo Marte s/n) will be at 6:40 p.m., and on May 4 at the CCU (Insurgentes Sur 3000, Ciudad Universitaria), at 12:30 p.m.