Luna Negra Continues 10th Anniversary Celebration

Posted August 25, 2009 4:24 PM in Press Releases

CHICAGO – Luna Negra Dance Theater, Chicago’s premiere Latino-infused contemporary dance company, will continue its 10th Anniversary celebration with two special evenings of dance and live music at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive.

The Company will present its Gala performance, Noche de Luna, paying tribute to Luna Negra Founder Eduardo Vilaro, Friday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m. The evening will showcase a retrospective performance of company favorites and will feature special guests Welz Kauffman, CEO and President of the Ravinia Festival, on piano, together with vocalists Michelle Areyzaga and Paul Corona. The evening’s finale will offer the World Premiere of Vilaro’s Danzón, reuniting two-time Grammy® Award winner Turtle Island Quartet with Cuban jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera (a nine-time Grammy® Award winner) to perform their critically acclaimed song of the same name. The dance program will be followed by a Gala Anniversary reception at The Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago, 159 East Monroe Street, which will include cocktails, savory Latin cuisine, dancing and live music by Latin band Son de la Habana.

Luna Negra will present its 10th Anniversary Fall program, an evening of Latino contemporary dance infused with flamenco, mambo and tango movements, also featuring Vilaro’s Danzón, on Saturday, October 10 at 8 p.m.

“Over Luna Negra Dance Theater’s 10-year history, Eduardo has developed the company into a vibrant part of the Chicago community,” said Interim Artistic Director Michelle Manzanales. “Has has built a repertoire that can connect with so many different audience members. It is extensive and boasts a variety of intriguing works, both from master choreographers as well as up-and-coming artists. Our dances are an outlet for the unique voice of Latino artists, which allows us to share the Latino experience with a large audience, transforming the artists and the viewers and enriching everyone’s perspective.”

“In appreciation of the time, energy and creative talent that so many people have contributed to make the company what it is today,” says Executive Director Joanna Naftali, "our fall season, in celebration of our 10th anniversary, will feature several works that celebrate Luna Negra’s history and past accomplishments. We look forward to a bright future that will support the creation of exciting new work, innovative cross-disciplinary collaborations, and explorations into new artistic terrain."

Noche de Luna will pay tribute to Luna Negra Dance Theater’s Founder Eduardo Vilaro, who served as the Artistic Director until August, 2009. The program will open with excerpts from Cantos por una Noche Viajera (Songs for a Night Journey), choreographed by Vilaro in 2004. Inspired by and set to the music of Antonín Dvorák’s Gypsy Songs, the piece will be performed with live music by Michelle Areyzaga (Soprano) and Welz Kauffman (piano). The program will continue with excerpts from Vilaro’s Don Quixote Dances. Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Don Quixote Dances explore Don Quixote’s images of Dulcinea, reflecting on how fantasy and dream transform reality. This excerpt, set to songs by Maurice Ravel, will be performed live by Paul Corona (Bass-baritone) and Welz Kauffman (piano). Don Quixote Dances was commissioned by Ravinia Festival as part as of One Score, One Chicago in 2005. Also on the program will be Vilaro’s Late…After Siesta, a bittersweet duet about the complexity of relationships, which was later integrated into his larger work Quinceañera. The Company will also perform an excerpt of Tango Vitrola, by celebrated Argentinean choreographer Alejandro Cervera. Tango Vitrola, originally created in 1987 and premiered in Chicago by Luna Negra in 2007, is a work that blends the distinctive and original qualities of the Tango with ballet and contemporary movement. The program will conclude with the World Premiere of Danzón, choreographed by Eduardo Vilaro. In this highly anticipated new work set to Turtle Island Quartet and Paquito D’Rivera’s acclaimed 2002 recording Danzón, Vilaro takes a new look at the classic Cuban dance form of danzón and reinvents it as a contemporary expression of Cuban culture.

Luna Negra’s Fall program, on Saturday, October 10, will be an extraordinary evening of Latino contemporary dance infused with flamenco, mambo and tango movements. The program will begin with Cervera’s Tango Vitrola, and continue with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Nube Blanco (White Cloud), which received its World Premiered by Luna Negra in March, 2009. Nube Blanco is a reflective and comical piece set to the stirring music of Maria Dolores Pradera and inspired by the zapateado (rhythmic footwork) technique found in flamenco, the national dance of Spain. This program will also conclude with Vilaro’s Danzón, with live accompaniment by D’Rivera and Turtle Island Quartet.

Luna Negra Dance Theater creates, performs, and teaches contemporary dance by Latino choreographers. In ten years, Luna Negra has established itself as a significant and vital component of Chicago’s arts and cultural community. Founded by Eduardo Vilaro 1999, Luna Negra serves as a springboard for Latino contemporary choreographers to give expression to their stories and bring new life to the cultures of their communities. Steering away from stereotypes and folkloric representations, Luna Negra brings to audiences modern Latino expressions with energy, power and passion, reflecting through dance the immense cultural shift that is shaping America in the 21st century. Luna Negra also collaborates with Latino artists of other disciplines, including visual, media artists, musicians and composers which fosters cross-disciplinary explorations and results in richly textured and highly original, contemporary dance theater. The company currently has works in the repertory by choreographers from Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico and Spain. In addition to performing, Luna Negra conducts extensive outreach and education programs, serving annually over 10,000 students in the Chicago area. Luna Negra Dance Theater’s company includes Javier Amaya, Nicholas Duran, Elise Drew, Ricardo J. Garcia, Louis James Jackson, Rebecca Lemme, Hamilton Nieh, Sarah Rodriguez Roberts, Kirsten Shelton, JP Tenuta and Tiffany Vann. The fall season will also feature guest artist Veronica Guadalupe.

Luna Negra Dance Theater’s 10th Anniversary is proudly sponsored by Exelon Corporation and Harris Bank. The Chicago Community Trust is the New Work Funder. Telemundo Chicago is Luna Negra’s Media Partner. The Fairmont Chicago, Aria and My Spa are Luna Negra Dance Theater’s Official and Exclusive hotel, restaurant and spa.

Ticket Information
Individual tickets for the Noche de Luna Gala, Friday, October 9, are priced at $250 and $500 and include premium tickets for the performance and the post-event reception. Tables are also available and range from $2,500 to $10,000. For more information and tickets to the Gala, contact Luna Negra at 312-337-6882. Performance-only tickets for October 9, and tickets to the Fall performance on Saturday, October 10 range from $25 to $55 and are available through the Harris Theater Box Office at 312-334-7777 or online at www.harristheaterchicago.org.