Ballet Hispánico, the nation’s largest Latinx cultural organization and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, will perform Eduardo Vilaro’s Buscando a Juan as part of the Summer 2023 MetLiveArts Season from July 13-15, 2023 at The Robert Lehman Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The program is free with Museum admission.
In his newest work, Vilaro, Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ballet Hispánico, is inspired by the exhibition Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter. The MetLiveArts commission, which features dancers from Ballet Hispánico, explores sancocho, or a mixed soup of cultures and diasporas, and will consider the assumptions experienced when witnessing people of color in white spaces in relation to the exoticized body and fixation on gestures and sensuality.
When Vilaro was named the artistic director in 2009, he became only the second person to head the company since its founding in 1970, and in 2015 was also named Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Vilaro has infused Ballet Hispánico’s legacy with a bold brand of contemporary dance that reflects America’s changing cultural landscape.
Vilaro’s philosophy of dance stems from a basic belief in the power of the arts to change lives, reflect and impact culture, and strengthen community. He considers dance to be a liberating, non-verbal language through which students, dancers, and audiences of all walks of life and diverse backgrounds, can initiate ongoing conversations about the arts, expression, identity, and the meaning of community.
The recipient of numerous awards and accolades, Vilaro was named one of 2023 Crain’s New York Business Notable LGBTQIA+ Leaders; received the Ruth Page Award for choreography in 2001; was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame in 2016; and was awarded HOMBRE Magazine’s 2017 Arts & Culture Trailblazer of the Year.
The schedule of events includes open rehearsals on July 10, 3 PM – 5 PM (EST) and performances on July 13 at 1 PM – 3 PM (EST) and July 14 at 6 PM – 8 PM (EST) at The Robert Lehman Wing, court level at The Met Fifth Avenue.
For more information, visit https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ballet-hispanico-buscando-a-juan.