The Latin Explosion: Spanish- and Latin-Inspired Dance, Theatre, and Art in Chicago

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Jardi Tancat; Cor Perdut, Oriental Theatre, March 28, 2003. Chicago Human Rhythm Project, RITMO!—The Latin Beat, Vittum Theatre, May 18, 2003. Robert Lepage and Ex Machina, La Casa Azul, Athenaeum Theatre, June 22, 2003. "Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Twentieth-Century Mexican Art," The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, January 24-April 27, 2003.

Over the past decade, American popular culture has been trans- formed by the "Latin explosion." Singers Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Christina Aguilera have become international pop sensations, while bands such as the Gypsy Kings, the Buena Vista Social Club, and the Afro-Cuban All-Stars have helped bridge the cultural gap between South and North America. The Latin influence extends to film as well, as exemplified by Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, and—once again—Lopez. Many of these savvy entertainers are multitalented: the singers can dance circles around most of their competition, and Lopez is a triple threat. In addition, several have been the impetus behind films that have gone on to win popular success and/or critical acclaim. Hayek producedthe Oscar-nominated Frida, which depicts the troubled life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her stormy marriage to the more well known Diego Rivera. In the spring of 2003, Chicago's Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum hosted the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection: a tribute to Kahlo, Rivera, and other twentieth-century Mexican artists. The timing of the exhibit's arrival in Chicago, following stints in New York and Seattle, coincided perfectly with the film. In June, Canadian director Robert Lepage and his theatre company, Ex Machina, arrived with La Casa Azul, a multimedia performance piece based on Kahlo's life. Chicago's dance scene has also caught Latin fever; both the Hubbard Street Dance Company and the Chicago Human Rhythm Project featured Spanish choreographers as part of their spring season, and the latter group is producing an entire series of programs called RITMO!—The Latin Beat, set to run through the end of the summer.

Some of the most interesting new work produced by Hubbard Street these days is that of Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato. Born in Valencia, Duato was performing with the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm when he was discovered by Jiri Kylian, then artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater. After serving as a resident choreographer for Kylian's company, he founded his own: Spain's Compania Nacional de Danza. Both Kylian and Duato now choreograph for Hubbard Street, but their styles could not be more disparate. Whereas Kylian's dances are airy, balletic, and oddly humorous, Duato's appear to be rooted in the classical modern tradition: weighty, meaty, and soulful. In 1998, Hubbard Street presented his Jardi Tancat (Enclosed Garden) and has been opening performances with it ever since. Originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater, this earthy sextet reflects Duato's Spanish heritage; a program note states that the three couples "are occupied with the sowing, planting, and threshing of the barren Catalonian land." If not for the emotional dirges of Majorcan singer Maria del Mar Bonet, the atmosphere might just as easily depict the American Southwest. The dancers inhabit a fenced-in space that simultaneously evokes the expansiveness of the desert or Great Plains, similar to Martha Graham's solo Frontier. The heavy, tasklike movement is that of peasants struggling to survive against the elements, whether infertile soil, a poor harvest, or a devastating dust storm. Jamy Meek stands out for the expressiveness of his back and torso. Meek is also featured in Duato's Cor Perdut (Lost Heart), an exquisite duet full of fluttering arm movements that epitomizes the nervous passion of young love. Although both works succeed in drawing the viewer into another world, it is a place we immediately recognize—one of human fragility.

The Chicago...