BALAM’s New 2024/2025 Season Features Mysterious Enchantment, Baroque Masterpieces and Comedy, Martial Honor, and Vibrant Latin Dance Rhythms!
El Barreño. Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger
The company’s dancers will perform irresistible vibrant Latin dance rhythms and songs of Old and Nuevo España (New Spain), with guest artists from the Martinez Academy of Arms presenting the formidable 18th century Spanish Destreza fencing technique.
BALAM is renowned for its well-researched and imaginative
cross-cultural work. Rooted in the opulent and enthralling aesthetics of
Balinese theatre, the company presents a contemporary vision of cultural dance
by blending ballet, modern dance, and diverse cultural styles from various
historic periods.
In the fall of 2024, BALAM guest performs in two new works
presented by Mosaic Dance Theater Company and La Fiocco. During the
spring of 2025, BALAM returns to the Gotham Early Music Scene’s Midtown
Concerts Series to debut a thrilling program.
Mosaic Dance Theater Company. September 14, 28, and 29 2024.
In September, BALAM opens the new season with a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Artists, Barbara Romero and Carlos Fittante, guest perform with Mosaic Dance Theater Company, based in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, in their premiere of “Impressions of The Alhambra”, a 90-minute theatrical work based on the beautiful prose of Washington Irving’s “Tales of the Alhambra”. Conceived of and directed by Mosaic Dance Theater Company’s Director, Morgiana Celeste Varricchio, this evocative story telling ballet
Panaderos del la Flamenca. Photo Credit: Julie Lemberger
creates vivid vignettes through text, images, music, dance, and gesture to portray the adventures of 19th century southern Spain. BALAM’s dances infuse the production with salero (Spanish
charm) derived from the romantic Spanish Escuela Bolera dance
style. Courtly elegance and symbolic, expressive gestures from Baroque
dance and pantomime are spotlighted. Renaissance, Baroque, Spanish, and
belly dance styles, choreographed by Carlos Fittante, artistic director of
BALAM Dance Theatre, and Samara Adell, choreographer of Mosaic Dance Theater
Company, seamlessly blend to capture the Alhambra’s enigmatic allure and
timeless mystique.
The show is offered free to the public. Tickets
are recommended and may be procured on www.TicketStripe.com. For
more information, visit www.mosaicdancetheaterco.org.
Mosaic Dance Theater Company’s program is made possible by funds from the Essex County Division of Cultural Affairs, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
La Fiocco. October 26 and 27, 2024.
In October 2024, BALAM opens the new month with a celebration of Arts and Humanities Month. Dancers Yumiko Niimi, Robin Gilbert, and Carlos Fittante will guest dance in the premiere of “Pasacaille: A Baroque Dance Extravaganza”,
Garden of Love In Miniature. Photo Credit: BALAM Dance Theatre
presented by La Fiocco, a Pennsylvania based period music ensemble. This eclectic program features a spectacular array of musical masterpieces by period composers, including Henry Purcell, John Blow, Jean Baptiste Lully, Francois Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Antonio Vivaldi, and others. BALAM’s program highlights imaginative Baroque dance choreography and exquisite Baroque costumes and masks.
For this program, BALAM will create and present two new
pieces. The first, “The Old Bachelor: A spirited and flirtatious Baroque
Dance Suite”, is accompanied with music by Henry Purcel. The second piece
offers the whimsical comedic work, “Harlequin Goes Bird
Watching!”. Featuring striking masks and golden scrolled Balinese wings,
this imaginative entertainment highlights the sophisticated, lively music of
Jean-Baptiste Lully, Francois Couperin, and Jean-Philippe
Rameau. Dancers Yumiko Niimi and Carlos Fittante will perform in both
of these works.
“Folia: A Spanish Baroque Fantasy”, an audience
favorite, will be revived for this show. This dramatic work features Antonio
Vivaldi’s rendition of La Folia, with BALAM’s principal dancer, Robin Gilbert,
performing in a noble Baroque mask with Fittante.
The performance dates and locations are:
• Saturday, October 26. 7:30 p.m.
Trinity Episcopal Church. 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury,
Pennsylvania.
• Sunday, October 27. 3:00 p.m.
Christ Congregation. 50 Walnut Lane, Princeton, New Jersey.
Tickets are $30 for general admission and $15 for
students. Tickets are only available through lafiocco.org.
In June of 2025, BALAM debuts “Old and New Spain in Music, Song, Dance, and Destreza Fencing”, a thrilling program selected by GEMS for the 27th season of its acclaimed Midtown Concerts series. BALAM’s new program will be presented in the largest, most diverse series of free chamber music concerts in the nation,
An anonymous 16th century illustration from "La Verdadero Destreza". Photo Credit: Biblioteca Nacional de España
comprising weekly performances by over 40 different professional ensembles and artists. The dance company’s bold and innovative program features two Baroque dancers performing, three musicians playing Baroque guitar, Baroque cello, and hand drum, and a mezzo-soprano singing. The concert will also showcase a rich tapestry of 17th- and 18th-century Spanish Baroque guitar music and the visionary poetry of New World feminist Sor Juana de la Cruz. A lively period folk melody from Veracruz, Mexico, juxtaposed to the haunting Baroque melody 'La Folia’, with a riveting demonstration by the Martinez Academy of Arms the Spanish Destreza fencing technique.
• Thursday, June 5, 2025. 1:15-2:00 p.m. FREE
St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church (AKA: The Actors’ Chapel)
239 W 49th St, New York, New York 10019
For further information, go to https://www.gemsny.org/midtown-concerts .
Fiesta Odalan 45!
In the spring of 2024, BALAM presented Fiesta Odalan 45! in
New York City to celebrate the company’s 45th anniversary
performing contemporary cultural dance for communities worldwide. Fiesta
Odalan 45! presented solos, duets, trios, and a quartet spotlighting a
range of music, dance forms and movements from Indonesia, Peru, Spain and
the United States from the 18th century to the present. The
captivating, well-received program may be viewed online, https://youtu.be/Gh-n-KWmxFU .
Contact BALAM
For further information about BALAM Dance Theatre, call
646-361-9183 or contact balamdancetheatre@gmail.com.
Learning the Terunajaya
Carlos Fittante. (Feb. 2024)
Photo Credit: Neil Simpson
I first studied Terunajaya with BALAM’s Founding Director, Islene Pinder, whose expressive hands and carefully selected cue words quickly put me into a different mind-body state. Eventually, Islene and I pieced together an acceptable draft of the dance for me to bring to Bali. There, I continued my instruction under the tutelage of Ayu Sukmawati, an award-winning Balinese dancer and Co-Artistic Director of the Semara Ratih Gamelan. This was an immersive experience that frequently overwhelmed my nervous system. It was amazing!
Choreographed in 1918 by Pan Wandres and revised in 1952 by I. Gede Manik, this formidable dance solo is in my opinion one of the great works of the cultural dance genre. This solo combines male and female Balinese dance movement patterns and draws upon several other popular Balinese dances. These include the Baris solo warrior dance, Legong, typically performed by pre-pubescent girls; Oleg Tambulilingan, a dancing queen bumblebee; and the Jauk, a strong masked demonic character.
How a dancer embodies these diverse energies and movement patterns is a sign of their skill in the role. When preparing my performance of Terunajaya, I use the Baris, a Balinese dance role that I also perform, as the substratum for my movement. His physical prowess suits my height, cisgender male identity, and innate body’s physicality, which also easily transfers to the Jauk’s moments in the dance.
However, to realize the identity of the Terunajaya character, I must also show the coy innocence of the Legong, and the flamboyant sensuality of the Oleg Tambulilingan. The result of this surreal blend is a unique Balinese dance expression that leaves me feeling like a martial artist in combat, who is simultaneously flirting with a suitor!
The Mystery of Bali Combines with Baroque Music and Dance in Garden of Love in Miniature (Jan. 2022)
The program is open to the public and admission is FREE. The performance will also be live streamed on April 21 at https://gemsny.org/midtown-live.
The concert is dedicated in memory of Gladys Isabel Fajardo Luhrs, a Friend of BALAM, who appreciated and enjoyed classical music and dance during her life. Her goodness, integrity, and generosity were inspiring.
In this program, gorgeous Baroque period costumes, a striking wooden Balinese deer mask, and Balinese hand carved golden leather bird wings are shown on one stage. "BALAM Dance Theatre's feel-good program presents light entertainment in the spirit of the Baroque opera entrée act, inspired by the theme of love, that will charm and enchant the audience. This performance embodies the mysterious spirit of Balinese masked dancing and fantasy wings with the bucolic delights presented by Baroque master painters François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard," said Fittante.
BALAM, a non-profit, professional dance theatre company based in New York City, offers a new vision of contemporary cultural dance by combining diverse dance styles from around the world and historic periods with ballet and modern. The company's new program opens with the stunning Entrée d’Apollon, a notated Baroque dance solo, circa 1701, performed by Baroque choreographer and dancer Carlos Fittante. BALAM dancer Yumiko Niimi performs an Allemande, as a masked bird character, with Fittante reappearing as a masked deer. Eugenia Forteza, guest mezzo-soprano, debuts with the company, as the fictitious Madama Amorina, a famous Baroque actress visiting the garden of love to meet a secret admirer.
Musicians of BALAM's Lisa Terry of Parthenia Viol Consort performs on viola de gamba with Ryan Closs from 4&20 Strings and the Lute Society of America New York Chapter on therobo. Guest musicians Kenneth Hamrick of American Virtuosi on harpsichord and Dongmyung Ahn on Baroque violin join the company.
This intimate, imaginative program features the exquisite music of Jean Baptiste Lully’s Entrée d’Apollon transcribed for solo harpsichord by Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, François Couperin’s Concerts Royaux: Concerts 1 and 2, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Sans Frayeur dans ce Bois. Throughout the program, recited text created by Fittante and Inma Heredia is spoken.
For further information about the program or BALAM Dance Theatre, contact balamdancetheatre@gmail.com or call 646-361-9183.
BALAM Dance Theatre to Debut 'Live Baroque Music and Dance' at Midtown Concerts (March 2021)
The program is FREE and may be
viewed live on May 27 and after the event at these websites:
- https://gemsny.org/midtown-live
- https://www.youtube.com/MidtownConcerts
- https://www.facebook.com/MidtownConcerts/live
BALAM, a
New York City-based company, offers a new vision of contemporary dance by
combining ballet, modern and diverse cultural dance styles from around the
world and historic periods. The
new program features two New York premieres, El Bosque and Fandango, and
the world premiere of Four Corantos.
A stellar line-up of artists take the stage in this premiere with Baroque BALAM's artistic director, choreographer and dancer
Carlos Fittante, and guest musicians Lisa Terry of Parthenia Viol Consort and
Ryan Closs of 4&20 Strings and the Lute Society of America New York Chapter.
BALAM celebrates its first live performance since the COVID-19 pandemic
began with this intimate and imaginative program using Baroque musical gems
from England, Scotland, Italy, and Peru. These works
are featured: diverse Corantos and other selections from the
Leycester Lyra Viol Manuscript by John Jenkins (1592-1678) for solo viol,
charming Scottish Tunes by Francesco Barsanti (1690-1775), the rolling Toccata
Arpeggiata for theorbo by Giovanni Girolamo Kaspberger (1580-1651), and the
commanding Fandango for Baroque guitar by Matías Maestro Alegría (1766-1835).
The
company educates the community about dances and cultures featured in its
repertoire. Through its Out & About Series, free and affordable
performances, workshops and creative events at the grassroots level are made
available for families, children, students and community residents.
During the performance, viewers will see Fittante's original and historically informed choreographies: El Bosque (The Forest); Fandango, with castanets and taconeo (rhythmic footwork in the Escuela Bolera style); and four distinct representations of the Coranto, a dance form inspired by King Louis XIV’s favorite dance, the Courante. These dances bring history to life through an elegant and artistically charged embodiment of period aesthetics.
For further information, call 646-361-9183 or visit BALAM Dance Theatre on its website, http://www.balamdancetheatre.com, and blog, www.balamdancetheatre.blogspot.com. Follow the company on Facebook, www.facebook.com/balamdancetheatre, and check for updates on Twitter @BALAMDance.