Pacifico Dance Company comes to the Redlands Bowl

The exciting traditions of Mexican folk dance will fill the Redlands Bowl stage on Friday, July 11, as the 2003 Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival continues. Formerly known as the Ballet Folklorico del Pacifico, the Pacifico Dance Company will bring more than 30 dancers to perform traditional and new routines.

Making a return visit to the Redlands Bowl, the non-profit group performs for national and international audiences, appearing in Dance Kaleidoscope Summer Dance Festival for the last six years. Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez has adopted the company to be its partner in taking the joy and beauty of Mexico to Southern California audiences, and the company became the first mariachi and folklorico ever invited to perform in North Korea and the People’s Republic of China.

Mexican folk dance features spirited dancing to exciting music. Teeming with dancers, the routines often tell magical stories of Mexican village life, ranging from the mundane to the fantastic.

For the Redlands Bowl event, the company will premiere a new routine titled “La Loteria”, based on the children’s game of Bingo. Told through a small boy’s dream, the story brings to life all the characters of the game. Choreographer Jose Ventes interweaves humor and a love story into the lively dance.

Under the artistic direction of Adriana Astorga-Gainey, the company involves dancers ranging in ages from 17 to 39. Selected through a rigorous audition process, all dancers come to the company with basic dance and footwork skills, or with training in classical ballet. Once accepted into the company, the dancers begin to learn the specific theatrical expressions for Mexican folk dance.

The Children’s Festival Workshop on Saturday, July 12, will feature “Fun with Folklorico”, taught by a former dancer from the company. Starting at 10:00 a.m. and open to all children in grades kindergarten through sixth, the free workshop will be held at the Community Center at 111 W. Lugonia in Redlands.

The 8:15 p.m. Friday performance is co-sponsored by Hartnell, Horspool, & Fox, a Professional Law Corporation, and members of Habitat for Humanity, and the Professional Women of Redlands, an Auxiliary of Assistance League of Redlands, will serve as intermission ushers. Ron Burgess, owner of Red Fusion Media and Redlands Web.com, will be the intermission speaker.

All events of the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival are presented without an admission charge, with a free-will offering collected at intermission.

The Redlands Bowl is located at 25 Grant Street in Redlands between Grant and Eureka Streets, just south of Brookside Avenue. For directions and more information, contact the office at 909/793-7316 or view the website at www.redlandsbowl.org