¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! presents Los Angeles-based Grandeza Mexicana in a performance of Mexico’s regional musical and dance traditions. The group will perform at Guadalupe City Hall on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.
Grandeza Mexicana’s choreography pays tribute to the traditions and customs of Mexico’s historic past. Santa Barbara County performances will feature dances from Michoacan, the Costa Chica of Guerrero State, Zacatecas, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Jalisco. The mission of the Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company is to perpetuate and showcase the splendor of Mexican folk dance, and to cultivate and promote public awareness and appreciation of this rich and diverse cultural heritage.
Founder and Artistic Director Jose Vences is a dancer, choreographer, and director with decades of experience in Mexican folk dance. He began his dance training at 16 while studying at the Universidad Autonoma de Morelos. In 1985 he relocated to Mexico City to begin training at the distinguished Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. The next year he was accepted into the touring company of the world-renowned Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez. In 2003 he established Grandeza Mexicana. The company regularly performs at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles and trains young students at its Dance Academy.
For more information on Grandeza Mexicana, visit grandezamexicana.com.
This article appears in Jan 18-25, 2018.