The innovative U.S. company Jessica Lang Dance will give its first performance in Mexico Friday night at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Among the offerings will be works inspired by Shakespeare and the trauma suffered by people affected by war and violence.
The program will integrate recently created works with dances from the group’s successful artistic repertoire.
The troupe’s commemoration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Sweet Silent Thought, draws on sonnets with themes like love and time.
The other main highlight of the evening performance will be the Thousand Yard Stare, which was inspired by the facial expressions of people who have been affected by wars and violence, drawing on universal themes.
Dancers will also perform Lang choreographies “Mendelssohn/Incomplete,” with music of Félix Mendellsohn, and “Lines Cubed,” a soft, gentle piece divided into four different color movements, “Among the Stars,” a ballet duet, and “The Calling,” a fragment of Lang’s larger piece “Splendid Isolation II.”
The performances were announced during a press conference hosted late Thursday morning by the National Institute of the Fine Arts (INBA), at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. INBA Dance coordinator Cuauhtémoc Najera spoke briefly and introduced a panel of dancers and others who spoke to the press.
“It is a great representation of Jessica’s work,” Margaret Selby, president of Columbia Artists Management Inc. and agent-manager for the company, said of the upcoming work. “It is undeniable that variety is the strength of the company.”
“Jessica Lang Dance is one of the most innovative companies coming out of the United States,” Selby added.
The National Institute of the Fine Arts hosted the press conference with Natasha Lagunas, a dance teacher at the National Dance Company, translating the English spoken by the panelists into Spanish.
Dancer Julie Fiorenza spoke about the upcoming dance works and told reporters it is “a pure joy and pleasure” to be in Mexico City.
Lang’s philosophy is that dance is a universal language and that it is important to have the body express that which cannot be said in words, according to a release issued by INBA at the press conference.
Choreographer Lang transforms the language of classical ballet into contemporary works with a strong visual element, according to the press release. Videos of dancers in long flowing costumes played in the background while panelists spoke.
Performances will be Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Sala Principal of the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
