{"id":51462,"date":"2022-05-05T15:07:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T22:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=51462"},"modified":"2022-05-10T12:30:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T19:30:32","slug":"valentina-tells-herstory-of-mexican-revolution-through-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/valentina-tells-herstory-of-mexican-revolution-through-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Valentina\u2019 tells herstory of Mexican Revolution through dance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are two different reactions, it seems, to the sound of a battle cry\u2014some sink into a hidden crevice or perhaps beeline in the opposite direction, afraid to be in the direct line of conflict. Others cry back. For the first time in my life, I cried back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 18, the Brava Theater, located on 24th street in the Mission District, was a space of screaming, particularly, that of the \u201cGrito de Dolores\u201d (\u201cCry of Dolores\u201d), the Mexican battle cry for independence. Lined in the theater seats, a community that understood the significance of \u201cshowing\u201d pain, rather than just telling stories of pain. On this particular night, Ballet Nepantla\u2019s \u201cValentina\u201d fused traditional baile folkl\u00f3rico with contemporary ballet to depict the resilience of women during the Mexican Revolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the other side of the country in New York, Ballet Nepantla has choreographed, dressed, and intricately chosen 10 performers to pay tribute to the culture and the stories of the Mexican Revolution. The Brava Theater \u2014 a community space in the Mission since 1986 \u2014 welcomed this group of artists in an effort to \u201cexplore the space between love and hate, hope and despair.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the hour and a half production, Brava\u2019s stage depicted periods of the day, teetering among dawn, dusk, and moonlit scenes \u2014 deep blues, gradually escalating warmth with use of  yellows and oranges, all courtesy of the audio and lighting supervisor, Rene Elizarraras. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These colors intentionally contrasted the work of the wardrobe team on board: Yvette Lannelli, Mart\u00edn Rodr\u00edguez, Yvonne Guajardo, Francesca Lannelli, Jorge Naranjo, and Maricarmen B. Rodr\u00edguez, all of whom collaboratively created multiple outfits, highlighting different scenes and mood shifts throughout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the exception of a few scenes, these 10 performers were continuously paired onstage. Guadalupe Garza and Maricarmen B. Rodriguez, Jorge Naranjo and Francesca Lannelli, Mart\u00edn Rodr\u00edguez and Andrea Guajardo. This illustrated the traditional family unit, and to bring light to the separation of that unity in wartimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They began twirling in synchronicity, with both parties dressed lavishly in rich, deep colors. The audience watched as reluctant wives, robed in endless black clothing, dressed their husbands in button down shirts, strapping their revolvers onto their backs, slowly preparing them for war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story being told was delicately broken up with the work of Sarah Gresik and Dan Westfield. A ballerina through and through, Gresik took to stage like a dove \u2014 draped in beautiful whites, laces, and  hair pulled into intricate braids. With Westfield as their anchor, the pair served as a breath of fresh air to meet these scenes of great intensity with even greater fragility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dance that followed was a collective expression of pain and deep mourning. This served the audience in a similar way that a tearfilled goodbye might have looked \u2014 men and women pulling their counterparts closer, as if their lives depended on their physical relation to one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, with a blink, Guadalupe Garza takes center stage, strutting from corner to corner with a very large lasso. Howling with encouragement, the audience was incapable of remaining silent as Garza placed himself in the middle of the lasso, allowing it to snap around him while he performed an incredibly choreographed tap dance solo in the middle of the loop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
 On April 18, Members of Ballet Nepantla performed \u201cValentina\u201d at Brava Theater on April 18, a theatrical show highlighting the role of women during the Mexican Revolution. Photo: Brynn Case<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

His comrades joined him, moments later, to tap in unison, all in matching reds, whites, and blacks. Gresik, the primary ballerina of the show, effortlessly spun in the center of the circle that these men had created, all dancing as they surrounded her. And she stood tall, demanding all eyes on her without speaking a word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We watch as the women on stage get word that their husbands have been killed in battle. Collapsing to the floor with incredulous heaviness, these wives lament the death of their husbands, after previously lamenting the separation of that same family structure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a moment that remains climactic, these women lift up their husbands guns, towards the fire-resembling sky, and begin marching to the beat of their capability. This begins with one woman, one gun. The others soon follow. A powerful message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The finale of the show pictures each of the performers dancing intricately, in bright reds, purples, and greens\u2014 united once more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all members of the audience \u2014 those with ancestry planted in Revolutionary Mexico and those without \u2014 Ballet Nepantla presented a night of utter allurement. We heard a story of generational pain, but we were also introduced with an opportunity to feel that pain. The Grito de Dolores was something that all of us felt that night.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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