2023 Ballet Hispánico Residency at Indiana University

2023 RESIDENCY

15 EVENTS. 5 DAYS. 3 CAMPUSES.

For 50 years, Ballet Hispánico has been the leading voice intersecting artistic excellence and advocacy, and is now the largest Latinx cultural organization in the United States and one of America’s cultural treasures. During the week of February 27–March 3, 2023, IU Auditorium partnered with the company as members and leadership of Ballet Hispánico led a weeklong residency consisting of 15 events over five days on three Indiana University campuses impacting nearly 2,700 participants.

The five-day residency featured stops at IU Northwest, IUPUI, and IU Bloomington. The 15 events included various dance workshops and masterclasses; a daytime performance for local middle school students; diálogos (moderated discussions) with topics of art, social justice, Latinx culture, and working in the performing arts; and a public post-performance Q&A.

At IU Northwest and IUPUI, participants included students and faculty of those campuses and local community members, as well as students and faculty from IU South Bend and IU Kokomo.

During the three days of events at IU Bloomington, participants included students from IU’s Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance; the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs arts administration program; IU’s La Casa/Latin Cultural Center; IU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; IU’s Latino Studies Program; IU student dance groups Paso a Paso and Ballet Folklórico; Monroe County Community School Corporation; and Washington Junior High (Washington, Indiana).

INDIANA UNIVERSITY NORTHWEST

The first stop of the residency was on the Indiana University Northwest campus in Gary, Indiana. The day consisted of three events with 269 participants including a Latin social dance workshop, a watch party and discussion on one of Ballet Hispánico’s live on-stage performances, and diálogos (moderated discussion) on art, social justice, and Latinx culture.

“It was awesome! Better than I could’ve imagined. I grew up around Hispanic culture. All the parties, it’s just people of color, people that look like me. And I’ve never seen people of quite literally every background, and even all different ages, participating in something that I grew up in. It’s very beautiful to see.”

–Isabella Del Real, IU Northwest student

“Ballet Hispánico’s visit to Indiana University Northwest—the most diverse campus within the IU system—was a tremendous opportunity for our campus and community to connect, engage, and converse. The joy, pride, and energy they brought forth was truly invigorating and inspiring.”

–Ken Iwama, Chancellor, Indiana University Northwest

IUPUI

Stop two of the residency was in Indianapolis on the campus of IUPUI and included three events with 76 participants. The day featured two dance workshops on Latin social dance and Afro-Cuban dance, as well as diálogos (moderated conversation) on art, social justice, and Latinx culture.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to visit another IU campus, interact with each other, and meet new people. Our students got to learn Latin dance steps and engage with the members of Ballet Hispánico directly. This was an opportunity for them to hear about the experiences of people from Black and Latinx communities. We felt very welcome and really enjoyed the experience.”

–J. R. Pico, IU Kokomo faculty member

“I really liked how personal the event was. I thought that being able to relax and dance was such a great way to provide knowledge on Latino culture. The biggest takeaway for me was bringing social justice and inclusion into my life and applying that to different aspects of my life. I feel that I am confident enough to bring this into my future classroom and use dance as a way to teach about Latino culture.”

–IU student

INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON

The final three days of the residency took place on the IU Bloomington campus encompassing nine events. Residency activities with IU students and faculty included dance workshops and masterclasses, a discussion and Q&A with a dance history class, and diálogos (a moderated discussion) on art, social justice, and Latinx culture as well as a separate diálogos discussing a career in arts administration. The company also led the annual Auditorium Kids on Campus program with nearly 1,000 middle school students from Monroe County and Washington, Indiana, schools.

The week culminated with Ballet Hispánico’s public performance of its first-ever evening length ballet titled Doña Perón, followed by an audience Q&A with the company’s Artistic Director and CEO Eduardo Vilaro.

FEEDBACK FROM AUDITORIUM KIDS ON CAMPUS STUDENTS:

“The dancing made me feel emotion.”

“I love the spirit and drive that the dancers had.”

“The interactive part where we all danced together was fun.”

“I enjoyed hearing about the history and traditions.”

“I loved seeing the dancing on the huge stage.”

“I liked seeing new shows I wouldn’t have normally seen and it being interactive.”

“I’m Latina, so it was a great experience.”

“Today made me want to get back into dancing.”

“It was an amazing experience. It brought me a lot of joy as a dancer and widened my perspective of the performance world. I learned some of both Latino and African styles of dance. It was great to dance in a non-European/balletic style. Because I was starting from an unfamiliar place, I felt more freedom to experiment in my movement and just have fun.”

–Meghan Rafoth, IU Bloomington student

“I greatly enjoyed this Q&A with Eduardo Vilaro. The event was put together very nicely. Eduardo Vilaro was inspiring and I gained a lot of knowledge and advice about the arts administration and dance field. I would love to attend an event like this again. Hearing from Eduardo and being given the opportunity to see Ballet Hispánico perform was wonderful and extremely inspiring to me, and expanded my passion for the arts administration field.”

–Julie Peyton, IU Bloomington student

“Speaking with Eduardo in a small, intimate environment like this provided insightful context that made the ballet more meaningful to me. As an arts administrator with a background in dance and theatre and an interest in history, I was particularly drawn to this event. I really appreciated the emphasis Eduardo put on “walking the walk” with his company. He spoke passionately about issues of equity and a desire to support his artists, and it really shone through in the production. As an arts administrator, I hope to bring that same energy and passion to my work in the future.”

–Claudia Gage, IU Bloomington student

“I loved this class. It brought a new style to campus that I would not have been able to experience if not for this program. I loved the kindness of the instructor and took away new knowledge of a new style of dance.”

–Gracie Harrison, IU Bloomington student