ON STAGE: Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $29-$96.50 from rmts.bc.ca or 250-386-5211
Dance Victoria is collaborating with New York’s Ballet Hispánico this weekend for the final performances of its 2021-2022 season.
The newly-minted production on tap Friday and Saturday — one that is expected to move the needle significantly in the world of contemporary dance — is Doña Perón, which follows the life of Argentina’s former First Lady, Eva Perón. The U.S. production is centered on a series of key personal and professional moments for the woman nicknamed Evita, returning to her life as a child and young woman often during the 75-minute run time.
The excitement of the season-ending showcase will be an emotional on several fronts as the Royal Theatre performances represent the final hurrah for Stephen White, Dance Victoria’s longtime executive producer who is retiring this weekend after 23 years at the helm.
White said he could not imagine a more fitting exit. Dance Victoria and Ballet Hispánico have been closely aligned in recent years, and the show arrives in Victoria on a wave of critical acclaim, having had its New York premiere just one week ago.
“It’s super-sweet to go out this way, for sure,” White said. “It’s a company I love, and a company that we introduced to Victoria four or five years ago.”
White said he committed to presenting the show before it had been completed, based on the resume of its choreographer, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who has created 60 groundbreaking pieces since 2003, and his relationship with the company’s longtime artistic director and CEO, Eduardo Vilaro.
Ballet Hispánico’s esteemed track record (the company celebrated its 50th anniversary shortly before the pandemic, when talks of bring Doña Perón began) also played a big role, he said. The company specializes in productions which explore Latin American/Latinx culture, and has grown to become the largest cultural organization of its kind in the U.S., according to White.
“Eduardo changed the direction of the company [in 2009] with more relevant productions, in terms of a contemporary ballet context, that are reflective of the Latinx experience, with more currency in the current dance environment.”
It’s rare for Dance Victoria to host the Canadian debut of a show so closely following its U.S. premiere. White said it has only happened once or twice in the company’s 25 years, which adds to the excitement. “Typically, we will be presenting a show that has been on the road for a year or so.”
With a cast of 19 dancers, Doña Perón is Ballet Hispánico largest production to date, and is bursting with music, costumes, and choreography. However, the scope of Ballet Hispanico’s not outsized, according to White, though it has “loads of costumes, and loads of shoes” (Perón’s charitable foundation distributed 400,000 pairs of shoes to children in need in the 1940s).
“It was built for touring,” White said. “These aren’t big, heavy, awkward set pieces. There are projections, and lighting is essential. It has a beautiful aesthetic. Very simple, but very evocative.”
White is proud of what Dance Victoria has accomplished during his tenure, and fully expects the company to hit the 50-year mark as Ballet Hispánico did two years ago.
“What a ride it’s been,” he said. “What I’ll miss the most is working with this incredible team of people. We’ve formed really solid working relationships and personal relationships. I’m also going to miss the conversations that I’ve had with artists over the years. But I feel like I’m ready, and it’s an exiting time for the organization and whomever comes in to take it into the next quarter century.”
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