Mistica
WORLD MYTHOLOGY COME TO LIFE
Legends and myths from around the world create important markers in our history and heritage timelines. The Latin Ballet of Virginia has brought them to life through dance by inviting international artists to tell the stories of culture from around the world.
We are providing this special workshops as part of our regular curriculum, training our dancers and students by renown choreographers/dancers from around the world, .
LBV is proudly sponsored by The Virginia Commission of the Arts, CultureWorks, and the NEA.
COLOMBIA
Colombian choreographer, Maria Carolina Velez-Gaitan will base her creation on the myth of MADRE DE AGUA (The beautiful young woman/amphibian, who rides enormous crocodiles, colorful fish and pink dolphins, radiating divine and pure light power, transmitting glory, fascination imagination and spirituality.)
VENEZUELA
Venezuelan choreographer Reina Rodriguez will conduct a series based on the legend of MARIA LIONZA. Goddess of waters, mother of mountains and the harvests.
CUBA and BRAZIL
Beloved instructors, Fernando Sabino and Marisol Betancourt Sotolongo will present these pieces from their respective home countries of Brazil and Cuba. Fernando will represent LAS AGUAS (The Waters) while Marisol will base her pieces on YEMANYA (Goddess of the sea and moon) and OSHUN (goddess of divinity, femininity, fertility, beauty and love), from the African Orishas, Brazilian and Cuban cultures.
MEXICO and SPAIN
Artistic director, Ana Ines King will work on the Mexican legend of NICTE-HA (White Flower of Waters in Maya language) Nicte-Ha is the guard of the sacred Cenote. And the Spanish myth of The ANJANAS, (Originating from Cantabrian mythology, Anjanas are good-intentioned fairies that dwell in nature.)
Our exceptional instructor and choreographer, Glen Lewis will dedicate his work promoting The Love for Nature and Healthy Behaviors
Australia
Guest Instructor, Lynn Martlew depicts the story of “How the Kangaroos Got Their Tails” and the myth of “The Rainbow Serpent”. Lynn will create choreography based on the story of the Kangaroo and basic art technique on how the aborigines design authentic drawings about their stories, legends and myths.
The Rainbow Serpent: In Australian folklore, the rainbow serpent represents a deity, or god, responsible for giving life as well as creating and destroying nature, particularly in relation to water.
How the Kangaroos Got their Tails: Based on the Aboriginal story from the Kija people of Warmun, Western Australia.
Colombia
La Madremonte
Our guest choreographer Duvan Humberto Castro Ramos will depict the tale of La Madre Monte (Mother Mountain). The legend is about an elegant woman who wears moss and leaves and a green hat that conceals her face. She lives in the jungle and bathes in rivers, causing flooding and heavy storms. She haunts those who steal others people’s land and casts plagues on cattle owners who disturb fields or ignore boundaries. Madremonte controls the climate and vegetation and has been known to put obstacles in jungle for unfaithful spouses and vagabonds.
BARBADOS
THE BACCOO MAN
Caribbean Folklore
Instructor: Adelle Broom
The tale of the Baccoo Man is not synonymous to Barbados, it also features in Guyanese and Trinidad folklore. The Baccoo is a tiny man with a long beard who terrified residents by constantly moving objects around in the house. The Baku man was supposedly owned by East Indians and when customers lapsed on payments for goods received, this little man would be summoned to put fear in the hearts of those who owed debt.
The Bacoo is a mythological figure that closely resembles a leprechaun from Irish folklore. It is a dwarf like entity that rewards its 'owner' with wealth untold or answers wishes once fed with a steady and constant supply of milk and bananas. It behaves a little like a poltergeist by causing trouble and moving items, pelting homes with rocks and causing general mayhem.
Bacoo men are mischievous, intelligent and quite devious. A trickster that can shapeshift, They can make themselves unseen and torment those around him. They are mainly active during nighttime hours.
Guest Instructors
DUVAN HUMBERTO CASTRO RAMOS
Dancer, Choreographer, Consultant
A native of Garzón in Huila, Colombia, Duvan has many years of experience with the academy, training and performing nationally and internationally. He began studying a degree in Dance at the age of 16 at the School of Dance Institute of Culture and Tourism in Bogotá. He has danced with many renowned masters of ballet and contemporary dance in the country. He performed professionally with the contemporary dance school Triknia Dance Company and Santander Jazz Ballet. He was Principal dancer with Compañia Colombiana de Ballet and a soloist with the Danza Concierto Company. Duvan has also performed musical theater with the Teatro Nacional and Gente de Teatro for several seasons. He won a choreography grant for young choreographers with his proposal ‘Torbellino’, inspired in a rhythm of Colombian folk music. In addition to his extensive experience, Duvan was also the creator and choreographer of the following contemporary dance companies — ’Zajana Quin’ ‘Danza Nueva’ and ‘Pié Cúbico’.
He currently conducts research for cultural development and social development in indigenous communities of Huila and Chocó, working closely with the young people by curating choreography for events for various national folklore festivals. He also serves as a consultant and judge for many active dynamic cultural programs.
He currently lives and works in the municipality of Tabio (Cundinamarca) which is part of the network culture, teaching neoclassical ballet, authentic movement and cultural heritage. he works with the Corporation REDEPAZ NACIONAL in promoting a Culture of Peace by supporting citizens initiatives for democracy and social organization; currently he participates in a network of dance artist promoting dance as a means for community building in Cota, Cundinamarca.
LYNN MARTLEW
Dancer/Choreographer
Lynn has been a physically active person since childhood, attaining top levels of achievement in gymnastics, tennis and water sports, advanced levels with honors in ballet under Madame's Gundi Ferris and Kira Bousloff, and Spanish dance under Deanna Blatcher and Rhoda Rivkind.
After graduating from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), where she received the Robert Finlay Dance Award, Lynn followed her love of Spanish dance. One of the founding members of Danza Viva Spanish dance company, Lynn has remained passionate about the dance form and has worked for 25 years as a Spanish dancer, teacher and choreographer, locally, interstate and abroad.
Lynn is a renowned and respected teacher and has taught at many prominent ballet schools, including the Graduate College of Dance, Youth Ballet WA, Terri Charlesworth Ballet Centre and Perth City Ballet, as well as numerous high schools and ballet schools throughout WA. She has also taught for the Spanish Dance Society in London.
Lynn has performed with Danza Viva Spanish dance company, the South Australian opera company, Flamenco Soul, Flamenco Pure, Terria, Primavera, Hay Bistro, Audance, Kultra (MACWA), Perth City Ballet and Youth Ballet WA. She was also featured in the film “Let's Get Skase” and danced the “Cachucha” as a soloist for The Gilbert and Sullivan Society production "Got a Little List".
Lynn has received numerous grants from the State Government, Audance WA and MACWA and was awarded the 2007 West Australian Dance Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Community Dance” by Ausdance WA.
Lynn has studied and performed in London, Johannesburg and Madrid under world-renowned teachers such as Eloy Pericet, Victoria Eugenia, Paco Romero, Mercedes Y Albano, Antonio Alonso, Juanjo Linares, Maria Magdalena, Antonio Gardes, Ciro, El Guito, Belin Maya, Belin Fernandes, Miguel Espino, Angel Munoz, Goyo Montero, Inmaculada Ortega, Dame’s Marina Keet and Mavis Becker.
Lynn is always eager to learn and attends courses to further her knowledge and to keep abreast of new developments and innovations in dance and movement. In recent years she has gained her Certificate III and IV in personal training with the Institute of Sport and has obtained numerous Pilates certificates.
REINA RODRIGUEZ
Dancer/Choreographer
A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Reina started her dance studies of ballet and jazz in England, at The London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Reina studied dance/jazz theatre at the Hounslow Borough College in England. Back in Venezuela, she culminated her dance studies with The Maria Luisa Biggott institution. She studied and danced contemporary dance, jazz and ballet with the dance Companies of Frank Jazz Ballet, Juan Monzon and Cristina Gutierrez in Valencia, Venezuela.
In addition to her classical ballet, jazz and contemporary dance studies, she also studied Venezuelan folklore with Yolanda Moreno and Flamenco with Carolina Leon.
In 1982 she founded her own dance company, All That Jazz in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. With All That Jazz, she has created numerous original Works such as Noche de Fantasia, The Fantasy Night, El Libro de la Selva, The Jungle Book, El Mendigo y su Sueño, The Beggar and his Dreams, El Jardin del Amado, The Garden of Love, and Carnaval de Romulo Gallegos.
Reina has received several awards for her choreography at various festivals in Venezuela, especially with her original creation of El Libro de la Selva, The Jungle Book.
MARIA CAROLINA VÉLEZ GAITÁN
Dancer/Choreographer
Colombian born María Carolina Vélez-Gaitán is a choreographer and yogini. She started her dance training at age 11 and at a very early age she became a dance teacher at her former school in Bogotá, Colombia. There, she taught, danced and choreographed for more than 15 years while simultaneously pursuing her law and business studies and career.
She has lived in Canada, Spain and England where she continued her movement-dance training that also led her into yoga and other holistic practices. She has been a student at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (London, England), Main Dance (Vancouver, Canada) and the Limon Institute (New York, USA).
In more recent years, she has been involved in teaching (law, dance and yoga), university management and event production. Currently María Carolina, is an event producer, Constitutional Law Teacher and in her classes, she explores the relation and role of the arts in political, social and economic processes. Now she is enrolled in the Limon Launch Program 2021 and teaches virtual dance and yoga lessons.