LANCASTER — The Lancaster Elementary School Theater, 191 School Street, Kilmarnock, will come alive with the high energy and intricate choreography of flamenco, tango and salsa February 10, as dancers with the Latin Ballet of Virginia perform selections from Alma Latina.
Hosted by the Rappahannock Foundation for the Arts (RFA), the show will weave tradition, culture and politics into a journey about the history and soul (alma) of Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the performance will start at 7:30 p.m.
“We are thrilled to bring in the multitalented Latin Ballet of Virginia, one of our regional artistic gems,” said RFA administrator Donna McGrath. “They are highly skilled in using music, costume and the expressive beauty of movement—from the elegance of classical ballet to the earthy power of modern dance—to create compelling stories.”
Alma Latina traces the historical influences that have shaped Latin dance: salsa from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Venezuela; merengue and bachata from the Dominican Republic; tango and milonga from Argentina; cumbia and vallenato from Colombia; reggae from Jamaica; soca and calypso from Trinidad; and samba and forro from Brazil. Artistic director Marisol Betancourt Sotolongo is familiar with all of those forms, having danced with the Latin Ballet since she was 3.
The founder of the Richmond-based Latin Ballet, Ana Inés King, grew up in an artistic family in Bucaramanga, Colombia, known as the “City of Parks.” Her grandmother was a poet; her mother, a dancer who taught her flamenco, jazz and modern dance at an early age. King studied scenery and costume design at the Instituto Departmental de Bellas Artes of Colombia, earning a bachelor’s in dance and choreography. She founded and was the artistic director of Santander Jazz Ballet in Colombia for 10 years.
After moving to the U.S., she joined the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Dance and Choreography and in 1997 founded her own company. Since then, the Latin Ballet of Virginia has grown into a troupe of 11 professional dancers from around the world and six musicians. The company conducts five major dance productions a year throughout the state and at select venues in North and South America.
King has received numerous awards for her work. In 2002, she received the Hispanic Woman of the Year Award, presented by AT&T Broadband and CNN en Español for service to the community. In 2015, the YMCA named her Outstanding Woman of the Year for making the arts accessible to low income families, empowering youth and helping keep Hispanic culture alive. That same year, a documentary on El Pintor, the Latin Ballet’s original production, won a Bronze Telly Award.
The Latin Ballet conducts master classes, lecture demonstrations, 85 long-term residencies and 120 short residencies each year. The company offers a variety of classes in two dance schools taught by 13 faculty members, reaching 400 students of all ages. The company also mentors 25 apprentice dancers annually.
On February 9, the troupe will perform two age-appropriate shows for all elementary and middle school students at Lancaster Elementary School.
Admission is by season subscription, or $45. For tickets, visit rappahannockfoundation.org, or call 438-5555.
