Spanish Nights: ‘It’s a dance of the people’

A fast-moving, passionate style of dance and slow, elegant and colorful movements are some of the features to expect from “Spanish Nights,” a Ballet Español performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus.

The Dance Department at UTRGV will present a blend of traditional Spanish dances such as flamenco, tango, folklórico and escuela bolera.

Sonia Chapa, a lecturer for the Department of Dance and a choreographer, said there will be a live guitarist and singer to accompany the performance.

Preparations began last August. Since then, the company has been working toward perfecting their dance performance.

The production will feature choreography from Chapa, Fred Darsow, a dance Associate Professor, as well as performances learned during Ballet Español’s trip last summer to the Amor de Dios dance institute in Madrid, Spain.

“The impact of the Spain trip really got [the dance company] to be very serious about dedicating themselves to practicing and getting better at another level with their Spanish dancing [and] their performance skills,” Chapa said. “So, they’ve been working really hard and we’re excited. We’re getting everything ready and having everything prepared.”

Chapa said the students enjoy learning about styles of dance from different regions in Spain and how they celebrate their culture.

“So, it’s all about culture and history and really serving and being very conscious and very aware that we are a Hispanic-serving institute,” she said.

Jennifer Jimenez, a dance senior who will perform Friday and Saturday night, said dancing flamenco is an art form that communicates what you want to express to an audience. 

“It’s like the story that you’re telling and I feel very connected with it only because I never felt one to be very competitive,” Jimenez said. “… With flamenco and Spanish dance, it’s pure growth on the classical aspects of this genre.”

The student dancer said “I feel powerful,” because there is a strength required to be able to perform on stage with this specific genre and props like castanets and colorful costumes.

“I feel so strong because I definitely don’t feel like myself,” Jimenez said. “I feel like a better person on stage. I feel like I am doing something that not everyone sees from me every day.”

She said because the UTRGV community is so close to the border, folklórico dances bring pride and a different meaning to Hispanic culture.

“Performances like these do have a different meaning to them,” Jimenez said. “And it’s not just about like the super wow factor, it’s just a story that we are portraying.” 

Daniel Alejandro Garcia, a dance senior who has been with the company for more than five years, said the performances have been updated to 2024 norms.

“This is a really big thing for not only the company, but the show itself,” Garcia said. “There’s also updated gender norms when it comes to who can wear a manton, or a shawl, or what type of dancing.”

In March, the company will be moving on to the American College Dance Association Festival where they will showcase their Spanish dances at University of Texas at Austin.

“To be able to send in a piece and then perform it in front of other universities, it definitely feels like we’re starting to grow at such a high level, especially because the dream is like eventually to move on,” Jimenez said. “Like for me personally, I would like to get a masters in flamenco.” 

General admission is $15, UTRGV students and senior citizens are $10 and children are $5. Tickets are available at www.utrgv.edu/arts.