The National Folkloric Ballet Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary

The National Folkloric Ballet Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary Santo Domingo, May 27 2015

With a program of activities that includes recognitions and dance performances, the Dominican National Folkloric Ballet (BFND) will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its creation, starting tomorrow, Wednesday, May 27 and until Sunday, May 31, in the Maximo Aviles Blonda Hall of the Palace of Fine Arts.

The National Folkloric Ballet, a unit of the Ministry of Culture and the Department of Fine Arts, was created in 1975 by Fradique Lizardo, who was its Director until 1984. Elizabeth Crooke, Director of the BFND, announced that tomorrow, Wednesday, renowned artists and contributors to the folk area, both in music and dance, will be recognized in what will be the first presentation of this year of the National Folkloric Ballet Award. To mark the occasion, there will be a show featuring selected pieces representing the 40th anniversary of the Ballet.

Crooke said that on Thursday, May 28, the show “Pasajes de nuestra historia” (Chapters of our history), will be presented free of charge. “It consists of presenting fragments of the Dominican history that took place between 1844 and 1865, between the declaration of independence and the Restoration, highlighting the heroes and heroines of these historical feats,” she said. During this show, which will feature two presentations, one at 10:00 a.m. and the other at 7:00 p.m., the audience will enjoy music, dances and costumes of the period.

Crooke said that, starting on Friday, May 29 and until Sunday, May 31, the weekend that coincides with Mother’s Day, the children’s show “En la loma” will be staged. It includes the participation of plastic artist Ricardo Arsenio Toribio, whose paintings will be projected on the scene, as well as the Wanda Feliz children’s choir.

The Director of the BFND also informed that every day, at the doorway to the children’s show, the team of the Cromcin Domínguez Artistic Project will be painting scenes from “En la loma” for the all mothers and children who wear white t-shirts for that purpose.

The play tells the story of a child with special needs, who is becoming unable to hear or speak, and who makes up for his lack of these senses by plunging himself into a world of fantasy, where there are traditional Dominican children songs and games and folk dances and music, such as the guloyas, mangulina, and the ax singing, among others.

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