Isaac spreads his wings
Guadalajara-born ballet star Isaac Hernandez is on the brink of achieving one of his dreams: to dance professionally on the “Old Continent.”
“Europe was always in my plans,” the 22-year-old said in a recent interview after announcing that he had joined the Dutch National Ballet, the largest and most prestigious dance company in the Netherlands.
Hernandez has spent the past four years with the San Francisco Ballet, where he made steady progress after studying for three years at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia.
Hernandez admitted that he is making the move to Europe with certain trepidation as it means being so far away from his family in Mexico.
Hernandez and his siblings were taught to dance by his father, a former dancer who continues to give ballet classes in Guadalajara.
His brother Esteban, 19, is studying at the Royal Ballet School in London.
Although Hernandez has returned to Guadalajara to give occasional performances and workshops since moving to the United States at the age of 15, he has rarely been seen on stage in Mexico City. He corrected that omission from his CV last month, taking part in a stellar gala at the Auditorio Nacional in the capital, along with well-known dancers from other international troupes.
Hernandez joined up with the Dutch National Ballet at the end of last month. With 80 dancers, the company gives over 100 performances a year, one-quarter of them abroad.
Dance company
Presentations on Saturday and Sunday by the state-funded Compañia de Danza Clasica y Neoclasica de Jalisco will mark the debut of the company’s new artistic director Guillermo Hernandez.
Hernandez is a former member of Mexico’s National Dance Company and has studied at several prestigious schools, including the American Dance Machine in New York and the Royal Academy of Dance in London.
Since its formation four years ago, the professional Compañia de Danza has won a steady stream of admirers despite not getting the kind of funding or promotion its talents deserve. “Jalisco ought to know, love and respect this company and feel it belongs to them,” Hernandez said this week.
You can see the Compañia de Danza participate in “Sonidos y Movimientos” together with the Ballet Folklorico Poctli Yacuic and the Mariachi Mexico Vive at the Degollado Theater on Saturday, September 22, 8 p.m. Tickets 60-130 pesos. On Sunday, September 23, noon, the company will give a free show at the Foro de Arte y Cultura (Alcalde 1471).
Vicente Fernandez
Several sources confirm that famed ranchero singer Vicente Fernandez will make the final appearances of his long career at next month’s Fiestas de Octubre. Fernandez is scheduled to perform in the Palenque (cock-fighting ring) on October 11, 12 and 13, with tickets set from 800 and 1,600 pesos. Other stars booked for the shows (which begin around 11 p.m. each night at the arena inside the Benito Juarez complex) include Banda El Limon (Oct. 18), Gloria Trevi (Oct. 19), Jenni Rivera (Oct. 21), Joan Sebastian (Oct. 26) and Alejandro Fernandez (Nov. 2 & 3). Tickests are already on sale at Super Colchones Andares, Hotel Mision Carlton and Fiesta Americana Minerva, as well as online at www.tickettap.com.mx. Among the artists performing in free shows in the Benito Juarez auditorium will be Yuridia, Paquita La del Barrio, Enrique Guzman, Banda el Recodo, Franco De Vita, Molotov and María Jose. The theme for this year’s Fiestas de Octubre is “47 Años de Orgullo Jalisciense” (47 Years of Pride in Jalisco).
Unless you have a stomach of iron or really want to experience some gritty Mexican culture, take a pass on the cockfighting before the Palenque concerts.
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