BALLET HISPANICO PROMISES 'VIBRANT VIRTUOSITY'

The pre-eminent Hispanic-American dance company, Ballet Hispanico, will give a performance at Bryn Mawr College on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 8 p.m. in Goodhart Hall.

Ballet Hispanico's appearance at Bryn Mawr signals the start of the College's yearlong Performing Arts Series, featuring some of this country's finest performing artists and musicians.

Tickets are $15 for the general public; $12.50 for senior citizens and faculty and staff of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges. Flexible subscription plans offer discounted ticket prices and priority seating. For tickets, call 610-526-5210 or e-mail Helene Studdy.

Considered one of this country's foremost Hispanic-American dance companies, Ballet Hispanico was founded in 1970 by its artistic director, Tina Ramirez. Ramirez is the winner of one of the highest honors in the dance field, the Dance Magazine Award.

Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, Ballet Hispanico's innovative choreography dramatically blends ballet, modern and Latin dance forms. Since its creation, the company has been viewed by more than two million people on three continents and most recently represented the United States at the 47th edition of The Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

This season's repertory includes a full-length dance-theater event in three acts titled Nightclub; Eternamente y un Dia, set to traditional Mexican folk songs with images of sacred ruins and village life; Llamada, ; Ritmo Y Ruido, set to Afro-Cuban rhythms and the urban rhythms of hip-hop; and Bury Me Standing, inspired by the unique culture of the Gypsy or "Roma" people, set to the rhythms and melodies of Spain and Eastern Europe.

More than 70 new works by choreographers of international stature such as Alberto Alonso, Talley Beatty and George Faison have been commissioned by Ramirez for Ballet Hispanico's repertory. William Whitener, choreographer of Llamada, has created dances for Boston Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet and for individuals such as Tommy Tune and Olympic Champion skater John Curry.

All of the company's 13 members bring to the stage not only tremendous technical expertise, but a powerful dramatic sensibility as well. Praised by The New York Times for their "vibrant and virtuosic" performances, the dancers come from all over the world and throughout the United States with impressive credentials: as former members of the Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, the American Repertory Ballet, the Korean Contemporary Dance Company, the Juilliard School, the American Ballet Theater, the MOMIX Dance Theater and the Eleone Dance Theater, among other groups.

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