Ballet de Monterrey
When word got out about Ballet de Monterrey’s recent successes on tour, people in the company’s hometown of Monterrey, Mexico, clamored to see the dynamic, expressive group perform for themselves. Swan Lake drew admiring crowds, and performances of El Cascanueces (“The Nutcracker”) sold out, requiring the addition of six more.
With its dramatic mountain vistas, Monterrey is Mexico’s third largest city. Still, it had little in the way of arts 16 years ago when philanthropist Yolanda Santos-Garza founded BDM, the city’s first ballet company. She made it her mission to bring art to the fast-growing northeastern Mexico city and mine the wealth of talent trained at Monterrey’s Escuela Superior de Música y Danza, as previously the students trained there had no professional opportunities at home.
When he accepted the post as artistic director in 2003, former American Ballet Theatre principal Robert Hill says he fell in love with the dancers and the company, “I saw tremendous potential,” says Hill. “They were hungry for inspiration, discipline and instruction.” His appointment brought a healthy stability to the company. The dancers, from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Mexico, have thrived under Hill’s direction.
Monterrey-born soloist Erasmo Pineda trained at the Kirov Academy in Washington, DC, and then returned to his birthplace as a big fish in a small pond. With the company for 13 years, he has grown because of the challenges Hill sets for the dancers. Hill is “not Latino, but he likes the Latino feeling,” says Pineda. “He wants to reflect our culture. It makes us feel important, like we have something to show to the world, and that’s what we want to do.”
BDM principal Claudia Kistler agrees. A former student of ESMD, Kistler had lost heart and stopped dancing for eight years—then she saw a performance of El Cascanueces that inspired her to dance again. She returned to class and joined BDM six years ago. She credits Hill for helping her gain the strength for her favorite roles, Odile and Kitri. Now she is eager for more. “I’m like a sponge,” she says. “I can learn from everything I see.”
Hill has maintained his ABT connections. Ballet mistress Georgina Parkinson, former ballerina Martine van Hamel and Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie, have come to coach. He also brings in ABT principals such as Julie Kent and Jose Manuel Carreño to guest with the company, something that the dancers particularly enjoy. “There are Latino dancers all around the world,” says Pineda, “but few great artists visited here.”
The company dances a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary works. And, as Hill listens to the music of his adopted workplace, he is making new ballets using the classical vocabulary. “There are so many countries with similar repertory,” says Hill. “I’m trying to keep the Latin American identity.”
Lori Ortiz is a freelance arts journalist based in New York City.
