UMS Concert Program, November 1, 1963: The Ballet Folklorico Of Mexico -- Amalia Hernandez

Season: Eighty-fifth
Concert: Second
Complete Series: 3402
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1963 Eighty-fifth Season 1964
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Charles A. Sink, President Gail W. Rector, Executive Director Lester McCoy, Conductor
Second Program Eighteenth Annual Extra Series Complete Series 3402
The Ballet Folklorico of Mexico
Entire Production Directed and Choreographed by AMALIA HERNANDEZ
Under the General Supervision of
CELESTINO GOROSTIZA Director of the Bellas Artes
Friday Evening, November 1, 1963, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Musical Direction Costumes Lighting Designer Scenic Designer
Ramon Noble Dasha Tom Skelton Arq. Aucustin Hernandez
Decor Assistant to the Director
Miguel Covarrubias A. Lopez Mancera Guillermo Keys Arenas
Robin Bond Feliciano Bejar
ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS
PROGRAM
Los Quetzales de Puebla (The Quetzal Birds of Puebla)
The dancers impersonate the mythological Quetzal bird whom the Indians considered a sacred symbol of elegance and beauty. The crown of the Emperor Montezuma was composed of twenty-four feathers from the tail of this fabulous creature. The headdresses of the dancers are approximately six feet in diameter and require great skill in their manipulation. Danced by the Male Members of the Company
Sones Antiguoide Michoacan (Dances of Old Michoacan)
Michoacan, one of the great states of Mexico, has produced in its eastern region a great variety of songs and dances that are a picture of the native Indian and Spanish cultures. In this series of dances three of the most popular types are seen. They are usually performed on birthdays, at fiestas, and in front of churches.
Mananitas (Birthday Song) . . . Maria Louisa Gonzales, Carlos
Navarrete, Jose Luis Cervantes
Sonajas (Rattle Dances) .... Martha Garcia, Pilar Sanchez Tres Jarabes (Three Jarabes) . . . Ema Pulido, Martha Garcia,
Jose Cervantes, Carlos Navarrete,
Berta Surdez, Maria Elena Soto,
Ruth Luna, Enriqueta Amaya
Boda en La Huasteca Potosina (Wedding in the Huasteca)
A cowboy on his way to his own wedding flirts with an Indian girl whom he meets by chance. After a brief dalliance, he proceeds to the village to meet his bride and in company with fellow cowboys dances with her and her attendants. In the midst of the gaiety a rival suitor appears and tries to entice the bride away. The bridegroom challenges him; they fight with machete knives and the rival is killed. At a signal from the bridegroom the festivities are resumed while the dead lover is casually removed from the scene.
The Indian Girl.........Pilar Sanchez
The Bridegroom.........Gabriel Loyo
The Bride..........Martha Garcia
The Rival...........Rene Rivera
Los Tarascos (The Tarascans)
In another part of Michoacan the inhabitants of Tarasco have remained true to their Indian heritage, preserving in its entirety the pre-Hispanic way of life. In this dance, the various stages of man's life are re-enacted with a touch of humor at the end to prove that life and death are all one.
Nacimiento--Cancion de Cuna Tarasca (Birth--Tarascan Lullaby)
On the shores of Lake Patzcuaro the wives of the fishermen sing to their babies at dawn as they wait for the return of their husbands from fishing.
Soloist: Marina Argelia
Infancia--Danza del Pescado (Childhood--Dance of the Fish) Jorge Tiller The villagers play at catching the silver fish which supplies them with their livelihood.
Adolescenzia--Danza de Los Paloteros (Adolescence-Dance of the Little Soldiers) The boys of the village stage a mock battle in ancient costumes.
Madurez--Danza de Los Moros (Maturity--The Moorish Dance)
The stately movements and formal execution of this beautiful dance between men and women are typical of the Indian, but reminiscent of a Spanish Pavanne, and demonstrate the only possible throwback to the Spanish invasion.
Vejez--Danza de Los Viejitos de Jaracuaro (Old Age--Dance of the Little Old Men of Jaracuaro)
In masks and cloaks, and armed with canes, a band of youths dance in the manner of old men.
La Muerte (Death)........Entire Chorus
On the Day of the Dead the villagers proceed to the cemetery bearing gifts for the souls of the dead.
Epilogos--El Torito de Tarimbaro (Epilogue--The Little Bull of Tarimbaro) In a burst of exuberance the Tarascans play at bullfighting while the "bull" displays on his ornamental blanket the legend "Long Live Life."
Entire Company
Fiesta Veracruzana (Festival in Vera Cruz)
"Tilingo Lingo" (A Zapateado) . . Amalia Hernandez, Rene Rivera "El Torito" (A Zapateado) . Maria Luisa Gonzalez, Carlos Navarrete
"Zapateado Grande" (Formal Zapateado) . Senoritas Hernandez, Lopez, Sanchez, Surdez, Pulido, Luna, Marroqui, Amaya
"La Bamba" (The Bamba) . . . Martha Garcia and Gabriel Loyo
INTERMISSION
Boda en El Istimo de Tehuantepec (Wedding on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec) This sacred wedding dance portrays the entire ceremony of courtship, marriage, and procrea?tion as it is symbolically performed from the ancient Indian rites even today. First the bride is "kidnapped" by the groom. He then proclaims to the village that he has won her. A solemn procession ensues in which the bride, adorned for marriage, approaches her lover. He executes the Dance of the Turtle, in which he prepares the nest on the seashore where she will nurture the eggs from which the young will be born. The ballet ends with a formal honoring of the bride and a festive dance.
The Bride..........Martha Garcia
The Groom..........Bernardo Diaz
Entire Company
Danza del Venado de Los Yaquis (Deer Dance of the Yaqui Indians) Probably the most ancient of Mexican dances, this is part of a rite still performed by the Vaqui Indians before the hunt. The Vaqui Indians are the only tribe in Mexico which is self-governing and which still lives as its ancestors did before the Spanish Conquest. The dancer who performs the role of the deer is trained from childhood to imitate exactly the movements of the hunted animal.
The Deer...........Jorce Tiller
The Hunters.....Juan Antonio Rodea, Tomas Quiroga
Navidad en Jalisco (Christmas in Jalisco)
Christmas begins in Mexico nine days in advance of the 25th of December with festivities, games, songs, and dances to the music of mariachis (wandering minstrels). The carols retell the story of the wanderings of the Holy Family seeking lodgings. From a solemn beginning with a candlelight procession, it proceeds to a rapid round of dances climaxed by the explosion of the pinata.
Martha Garcia, Gabriel Loyo, Carlos Navarrete, Carlos Olmedo and Entire Company
THE COMPANY
DANCERS
AMALIA HERNANDEZ MARTHA GARCIA EMA PULIDO
Bertha Surdez, Dulce Silvera, Marta Alicia Vcsa, Ma. Luisa Gonzales, Ma. Elena Soto,
Ma. Elena Gonzalez, Ruth Luna, Pilar Sanchez, Elena Marroqui, Enriqueta Amaya, Ina Rojo
GABRIEL LOYO RENE RIVERA CARLOS NAVARRETE
JORGE TILLER CARLOS OLMEDO
Jose Luis Cervantes, Bernardo Diaz, Tomas Quiroga, Alfonso Sanchez, Juan Medellin, Ramiro Ramirez, Federico Orduna, Jose Coronado, Juan Antonio Rodea
THE CHOIR
MARINA ARGELIA, Carmen Cisneros, Silvia Davila, Ma. Teresa Chapa, Martha Farfas, Guadalupe Jimenez, Flavia Lopez, Marichel Mariscal, Martha Oliveros, Paz Martinez, Alicia Moreno, Guadalupe Sosa, Felicitas Nieto
PEDRO MUNOZ, HORACIO BIGURRA, FERNANDO ROJAS, ENRIQUE DELGADO, Miguel Angel Galindo, Arturo Jimenez, Jorge Noble, Eduardo Noble, Emilio Parcdes, Mario Sosa, Jorge Toro, Sergio Yrigoyen
MUSICIANS
MARIACHIS OF JALISCO
Directors: Marcelino Ortega and Lazaro Chavez. Alfonso Orejel, Oswaldo Vasquez, Gonzalo Meza, Gilberto Ortiz, Angel Rojas
BAND OF JAROCHO
Director: Raul Rosas. Rene Rosas, Rafael Rosas, Carlos Barradas
BAND OF HUASTECO
Director: Mariano Sanchez. Casimiro Sanchez, Roberto Escoto,
MARIMBA BAND
Director: Armando Cruz. Gaston Orozco, Nestor Banes
INDIAN PLAYERS
Director: Zacarias Segura. Huehuctl G. Loyo, Teponaxtle J. Tiller, Tlalpizalli-Ateco-colli, E. Delgado, y H. Bigurra
STAFF FOR BALLET FOLKLORIO
General Manager..........Estela A. De Mateos
Administrator ........... Fernando Mercado
General Accountant...........Jose Arredondo
Ballet Mistress............Isabel Salcedo
Chief Carpenter............Jesus Cueto
Wardrobe Mistress..........Maria Rodriguez
Accounting Assistant..........Fernando Rojas
Publicity Assistant..........Marichel Mariscal
Organization Assistant...........Jorge Toro
Special performance: La Bohente, Saturday, November 16, 8:30 p.m. (New York City Opera Company)