Ballet Hispanico Opens New Season

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Ballet Hispanico will open the spring semester of Bucknell University's Weis Center Series on Friday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m.

"This is Ballet Hispanico's second Weis Center appearance," said Bill Boswell, executive director of the Weis Center. "The company was very popular with our audience, which was wowed by the energy and the skill of the dancers and the beauty of the dances."

The program will include three works: "Tres Cantos" (1975) and "Club Havana" (2000) are works in more traditional styles and shine with the expected Ballet Hispanico brilliance while a recent commission, "Mad'moiselle" (2010), is more cutting-edge and contemporary, visually stunning, and deeply thought-provoking.

Contemporary Hispanic world
Founded in 1970 and celebrating its 40th anniversary season, the company's innovative repertory fuses ballet, modern and Latin dance forms into a spirited image of the contemporary Hispanic world.It has performed for more than 2 million people in the United States, Europe and South America.

Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, the Ballet Hispanico company has appeared in such major venues as The John F. Kennedy Center, Houston's Wortham Center, the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, UCLA's Royce Hall, the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia, Wolf Trap, Jacob's Pillow, Boston's Celebrity Series and The Joyce Theater.

The company's national television appearances include CBS's "Sunday Morning" and, on NBC, "Hispanics Today," "Latin Access" and the 1999 "Hispanic Heritage Awards." In June of 1999, the company was featured in a gala birthday celebration honoring former President and Mrs. Bush. That September, they performed for 35,000 Mets fans at Shea Stadium.

International appearances include the Zurich Summer Festival in 2001 and a tour of Spain in 1998. In 1993, the company toured to four countries in South America; while in Buenos Aires, they were the guests at a private reception with President Carlos Menem. The company represented the United States at Expo '92 in Seville, Spain, where they were featured at a special Independence Day Celebration at the U.S. Pavilion.

Ticket information
Tickets for the Ballet Hispanico performance are $25 per person. Discounts for senior citizens and students are available.

Tickets for Weis Center series performances are available in person from the Campus Box Office in the Weis Center weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; from the Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University bookstore in Lewisburg, weekdays and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 12:30 to 4 p.m.; or the Campus Activities and Programs office on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center at Bucknell, weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Advance tickets also are available online or by calling 570-577-1000. The box office in the Weis Center lobby opens one hour before performances.

The 2010-11 season of Weis Center Events is generously supported by grants from the Bucknell University Association for the Arts and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support for the series is provided by numerous and generous private donors, including members of the Weis Center Green Room Circle and Green Room Board.

The next event in the Weis Center Series is a concert on Feb. 11 with the Taipei Chinese Orchestra featuring pipa soloist Wu Man. A large orchestra of traditional Chinese instruments, most of which have traditions that go back for centuries, the ensemble has been considered a leading exponent of traditional and contemporary Chinese music since its founding in 1979. Wu Man returns to the Weis Center for the second time this year, having performed as guest soloist with the Shanghai Quartet this past fall.