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Note: Rehearsal photos in this article were shot without final show lighting or costumes.
Esperanza del Valle will present “Tarimas y Tradiciones,” a suite of 20 Mexican folklórico dances, at El Teatro Campesino Playhouse on Sept. 25-27. The program includes an original choreodrama, “Rosita Alvírez,” along with traditional dances drawn from the regions of Campeche, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Michoacán and Veracruz.
“We have worked extensively with master teachers in Mexico,” Dance Captain Noé Galmez said, “to be able to maintain an authentic style. We want the public to know that this is our roots, where we come from, and what we want to keep promoting so that it isn’t lost.”
Ruby Vasquez, who has been with the group for 39 years, said that very little has changed over the years in Esperanza’s dedication to reproducing folklórico dances as accurately as possible.
“This requires us to go to the regions in Mexico to learn, or to bring in maestros from there to teach us,” she said. “Our mission and focus is to maintain the actual style as it should be: the footwork, the movement, the body posture, down to the dresses and attire.”
The “tarimas” (stage) in the title playfully alludes to adapting the dances for the Playhouse’s new multi-level proscenium, designed for Luis Valdez’s “Mummified Deer”, which replaced the in-the-round configuration used since 2019.
“We were not used to performing in the round,” Esperanza founder Janet Johns said, “but it worked out really well. This stage is a challenge, but we got all the dimensions and plotted them out with tape in our studio. And it feels like everything that we rehearsed is working.”
As a result, the dances will not be performed as they normally would, but Johns said that the company found inventive ways to navigate the challenges.
“It took a lot of discussion with a lot of trial and error to see what works,” she said. “But we have a lot of creative minds, and when we put our ideas together, things worked out. I think the performances are going to be beautiful here, and I think the audience is going to be wowed.”
Johns is particularly enthusiastic about a suite of dances from Jalisco, some of which were learned at a conference there that several Esperanza dancers attended last year.
“A lot of people haven’t seen these traditional dances,” she said. “They only see the ones with the bright ribbons and the charro outfits. I think it’ll be exciting for the audience to compare and contrast the traditional with the contemporary.”
Galmez said he particularly enjoys performing the Jalisco dances because, for him, along with accurately reproduced costumes, they convey the spirit of “everything that central Jalisco is.”
The dances from Michoacán, though, he said, are some of the hardest to perform.
“They look easy, but it is a lot of work with many steps, rhythms, and grounding, not as jumpy or exaggerated,” he said. “The definition of each step has to be heard clearly, and they are very fast, so it is quite heavy and difficult.”
This year’s featured set piece is “Corrido De Rosita Alvírez,” a traditional drama first performed by Esperanza in the late ’80s. It portrays a young woman who disobeys her mother, goes to a dance and, in the traditional version, meets an unfortunate fate.
“For the majority of corridos, somebody gets killed or dies at the end,” Johns said. “We take it and put a little twist on it. Our heroine won’t die: she wants to keep dancing, so she’s not going anywhere. The audience will enjoy that.”
Vasquez said that, in today’s political climate, she hoped people would attend traditional cultural events like these to show their understanding of and appreciation for Latino culture.
“I want people of Mexican descent to leave feeling very proud of their lineage,” she said. “And for others, I want them to leave realizing that Mexican culture has contributed so much to our society. And I hope they see us, particularly the young dancers, transmitting that pride.”
With photos of Esperanza del Valle’s performances dating back to the late ’80s on display on the playhouse walls, Johns says she marvels at how time has passed and how many members are still active and performing.
But she said that the younger dancers in the group, who make up about half of the performers in this year’s show, help to invigorate and inspire members who have been there almost from the start.
“I think they are important because we need them to carry on the legacy of Esperanza del Valle,” Johns said. “New people, new blood. They are really our next generation of dancers, led by our veterans who can teach and pass on the skills and the styles.”
Esperanza del Valle presents “Tarimas y Tradiciones”
Son Jarocho De La Región Papaloapan, Veracruz
La Indita
La Piña
El Buscapies
El Toro Zacamadu
Huasteca Veracruzana
La Presumida
La Aguililla
El Perro
La Media Calandria
La Tortolita
Corrido De Rosita Alvírez
El Corrido
Intermission
Campeche
Campechanita Habanera
Flor De La Malagueña
Fandango
Reprise: Fandango
Jalisco Tradicional
Las Copetonas
El Cigualteco
Jalisco Centro – Contemporáneo
El Toro Viejo
Son de las olas
El Amigo
Reprise: El Cigualteco
Performances of “Tarimas y Tradiciones” are scheduled for Sept. 25 at 8 p.m., Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. El Teatro Campesino Playhouse is located at 705 4th Street, San Juan Bautista. Tickets for “Tarimas y Tradiciones” are available through Eventbrite.
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