Segerstrom Center presents Ballet Folklórico de Mexico

Segerstrom Center presents Ballet Folklórico de Mexico founded by Amalia Hernández on Wednesday, March 30 at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.  Tickets are on sale at scfta.org.  

Ballet Folklórico de México brings together the festive music, swirling dance, and vibrant costumes of Mexican folklore from pre-Colombian civilizations through the modern era. The company, composed of 76 talented folk dancers, has developed choreography for 40 ballets and makes its permanent home at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, one of Mexico City’s most historic venues. For over 6 decades, this acclaimed company has thrilled audiences all over the world with performances highlighting Mexico’s diverse folkloric dance styles and rich, colorful culture.

In 1952, dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernández founded the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico, having embarked at a very early age on a quest to preserve the dancing traditions of Mexico. Her goal was to share with the nation and the world the beauty of Mexican dance from the Pre-Colombian era, the Hispanic Viceroy period, and the popular period of the Revolutionary years.

In 1954, Amalia began to garner recognition as a highly respected cultural representative of Mexico. In her earliest ballets, the audience sees the present time fade before their eyes, as they enter into a journey through the past: the lords of heaven and earth come back to life, the jaguars, the gods born of human flesh; and thirty different cultures that blossomed in centuries past leave behind a trail of color. 

All of these elements together gave Amalia Hernández the inspiration to create the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico.

A weekly program on Mexican television sponsored by the government aired the Ballet’s initial performances. Merely a few years into its formation, the company achieved a degree of international success that has been maintained for over seventy years. The music, technical rigor, elaborate costuming, and Amalia’s choreography have helped the Ballet and its followers disseminate the zest for rich Mexican tradition and folklore throughout the world.

Since 1959, the company has been permanently housed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, in Mexico City. The institution has two main artistic companies called The First Company and the Resident Company, both of whom alternate tours and performances in Mexico and abroad.

The company has currently given over 5,000 performances, and both Amalia Hernandez and the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico have been distinguished with more than 300 awards recognizing their artistic merits.

Single tickets for Ballet Folklórico de Mexico at Segerstrom Center for the Arts start at $29 and are now available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, or by calling (714) 556-2787.

For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.