Celeste Cruz / Vaquero Radio.
Ballet Nepantla performed “Mística,” honoring indigenous, Afro and Hispanic ancestors and commemorating Día de Los Muertos Oct. 21 in the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus.
Andrea Guajardo, founder, artistic director and resident choreographer for the New York City-based company, explained the roles presented in the performance.
“In Act 1 all of us did …one of the opening full-group pieces,” Guajardo said. “That’s called ‘Chinantla.’ And then we did ‘La Bruja’ and we were all in ‘Diablos.’ And then in Act 2, I was ‘La Catrina’ and we all did ‘Palo [Congo]’ and kind of almost everything … ‘Viejitos’ and ‘Veracruz.’”
Guajardo explained the creative process of developing the ‘Mística’ performance.
“A lot of the pieces that you saw, some of them, are just Martin’s choreographies,” she said. “Some of them are just Argelia’s choreographies, some of them are just my choreographies, but we do have pieces that we collaborate on. … Those processes are usually very interesting, it starts with one of us, like, having an idea. And we know that we wanted to be a fusion piece and we share the music. It usually starts with, like, someone already having an inspiration and already having a song in mind.”
Argelia Arreola, dancer and choreographer, explained how Nepantla focuses on how to reach the audience through its performances.
“The music is the main inspiration to the choreography,” Arreola said. “For example, we have the original idea of us to do something about the Día de Muertos, talk about mourning, talk about honoring our ancestors. And starting from there we start looking for music to touch us, about what we want to do, what we want to say to the audience.”
Martin Rodriguez, co-founder, associate director and resident choreographer, said he researches music for each piece.
“When it comes to music, I definitely do a lot of research,” Rodriguez said. “I, myself, was dancing in Guadalajara since I was 9 years old. I was part of an academy there, and the academy is affiliated to the Ayuntamiento de Arte y Cultura in Guadalajara. So they have an incredible library of music. A lot of it I brought with me when I was 15 years old when I migrated to the U.S. … A lot of it is music that I already know and even then we keep doing a lot of research. … Music is not so easily accessible if not, like, mastered, you wouldn’t find it on Spotify, so you have to really dig deep.”
George Diaz, an associate professor in the History department and director of the Center for Mexican American cultural studies, explained why the center decided to host Nepantla at UTRGV.
“The performance was related to Día de Los Muertos, which is basically something for the entire community,” Diaz said. “All of our events are free and open to the public. Everything is to benefit the community, and it’s all in line with our mission, which is part of the Office Of Bilingual Integration and to one thing that we think are relevant, educational programming for the community to appreciate.”
To learn more about Nepantla, visit its website, balletnepantla.com. Nepantla is also on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
Nepantla offers workshops for those interested in pursuing a dance career. The company holds auditions in New York City and virtually.
This is Celeste Cruz for Vaquero Radio.
