Tina Ramirez
Encyclopedia
Ballet Hispanico
Ballet Hispanico is an American dance company based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded by the Venezuelan American dancer and choreographer Tina Ramirez in 1970 and presents dances reflecting the experience of Hispanic and Latino Americans...
, the leading Hispanic dance company in the United States.
Biography
Ramirez was born in VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, where her father, the Mexican bullfighter Jose Ramirez, known as Gaonita, was appearing. Her mother, Gloria Cestero, was the daughter of a politically active Puerto Rican family and subsequently became a leader in the Puerto Rican immigrant community in New York City. Ramirez moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the age of six or seven. As a young dance student, at a time when the worlds of ballet, modern dance, and ethnic dance were largely separate, she trained rigorously in all three, studying Spanish dance with Lola Bravo and Luisa Pericet, classical ballet with Chester Hale and Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova
Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen....
, and modern dance with Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow was a Jewish American dancer and choreographer.-Training:...
. Her professional performing career included tours with the Federico Rey Dance Company, the Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
Orchestra, solo engagements in Spain, the inaugural Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy with John Butler's company, the Broadway productions of Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
and Lute Song
Lute song
The lute song was a generic form of music in the late Renaissance and very early Baroque eras, generally consisting of a singer accompanying himself on a lute, though lute songs may often have been performed by a singer and a separate lutenist...
, and the television adaptation of Man of La Mancha.
In 1963, Ramirez fulfilled a promise to take over Miss Bravo's studio upon her retirement. In 1967, with federal funding through an anti-poverty program, she conceived and directed an intensive training program for younger students called "Operation High Hopes." In addition to teaching, Ramirez arranged performances for her young students. While she demanded professional behavior of them, she was aware that there were few opportunities for Latinos in professional dance at the time. Encouraged by the growing skill of her pupils and increasing requests for performances, Ramirez formally established Ballet Hispanico in 1970 to include a company, a school, and educational programs.
Artistic Director
Ramirez' vision for the Ballet Hispanico Company gave contemporary Hispanic culture its place in American dance, much as Alvin Ailey did for the Black community. During her 39 years as Artistic Director, she invited 50 choreographers from diverse backgrounds to provide a modern-day interpretation of Spanish-speaking cultures, drawing on the versatility of her dancers in ballet, modern dance, jazz, ethnic and other dance techniques. World-renowned artists responded to her vision, including Talley BeattyTalley Beatty
Talley Beatty was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles dancer, educator, and dance company director...
and Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow was a Jewish American dancer and choreographer.-Training:...
from modern dance; ballet artists Vicente Nebrada and Alberto Alonso; Paco Fernandez and Jose Coronado from ethnic dance; and Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born at Buenos Aires, Daniele began her dance training at the age of seven at Teatro Colón, Argentina's equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre...
and Ann Reinking
Ann Reinking
Ann Reinking is an American actress, dancer, and choreographer. She has worked extensively in musical theatre, both as a dancer and choreographer, as well as appearing in film.-Biography:...
from Broadway. "More than most artistic directors, she has consistently given exposure to fresh talent," nurturing artists early in their careers, including William Whitener, now Artistic Director of Kansas City Ballet; MacArthur Award-Winner Susan Marshall
Susan Marshall
Susan Marshall is an American choreographer and dancer. She is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of Susan Marshall & Company which she formed sometime between 1982 and 1983, working initially with dancers Arthur Armijo, David Dorfman, Jackie Goodrich, and David Landis...
; Ramon Oller, head of Spain's Metros Danza; and Pedro Ruiz, then a member of the Company, now an independent choreographer.
For each of the 75 new works she commissioned for the Company (she also acquired 12 works, provided workshops for four and choreographed four), Ramirez provided top production values, regularly receiving acclaim for sets, costumes and lighting designs provided by such award-winning talents as Eugene Lee
Eugene Lee (designer)
Eugene Lee was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, 1939. He attended Beloit Memorial High School. He has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. He has BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Yale Drama School and three honorary Ph.Ds. Mr...
, Patricia Zipprodt
Patricia Zipprodt
Patricia Zipprodt was an American costume designer. She was known for her technique of painting fabrics and thoroughly researching a project's subject matter, especially when it was a period piece...
, Willa Kim
Willa Kim
Willa Kim is an American costume designer for stage, dance, and film.Kim was born in Los Angeles, California and is a 1935 graduate of Belmont High School where she excelled in art and was an art editor for the 1935 Campanile...
, Roger Morgan
Roger Morgan (designer)
Roger Morgan is an award winning American light designer. He has designed the lighting for more than 30 productions on Broadway including The Visit, Mort Sahl on Broadway!, Me and My Girl, The Octette Bridge Club, Agnes of God, I Remember Mama, First Monday in October, It Had to Be You, Dracula,...
, and Donald Holder.
During her tenure, Ballet Hispanico performed for over two million people across three continents. The Company's national tours included engagements at such major venues as The John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Music Center in Los Angeles, The Wortham Center in Houston, Boston's Celebrity Series, and Jacob's Pillow. In 1983, the Company was one of the first to appear at The Joyce Theater, and has since regularly presented its New York season there. The Company represented the United States at Expo '92 in Seville, Spain, where it was featured at a special Independence Day Celebration at the United States Pavillion. While on a three-week tour of South America in 1993, Ramirez and the dancers were honored guests at a private reception with President Carlos Menem. The Company's television appearances included "CBS Sunday Morning" with Charles Osgood in 1995 and CBS "The Early Show" in 2008.
Educator
Ramirez' "contribution as an educator is in many ways as important as her legacy as an artist and director." The Ballet Hispanico School of Dance employs Ramirez' original core curriculum of ballet, modern, and Spanish dance techniques - a singular practice among America's dance training institutions. The School has grown to train hundreds of students year-round. To ensure access for children of all backgrounds, the School provides scholarship support, which as grown to over $100,000 per year.In addition to performing with Ballet Hispanico's own company, alumni trained at the School have gone on the significant careers, including Linda Celeste Sims, a leading dancer with the Ailey Company; Kimberly Bralock, a member of the San Francisco Ballet; Nancy and Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Ticotin was born in Bronx, New York, the daughter of Iris Torres, a Puerto Rican educator, and Abe Ticotin, a Russian Jewish used car salesman. Her brother, Sahaj, is a musician and the lead singer for his rock group, Ra...
in film, television and Broadway; Michael DeLorenzo
Michael DeLorenzo
Michael DeLorenzo is an American actor, director and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of NYPD Detective Eddie Torres on the Fox Thursday night television series New York Undercover which was aired from 1994-1998....
in film and television; Sara Erde, Spanish dance artist at the Metropolitan Opera; and Nelida Tirado, featured Spanish dancer with the international tour of Riverdance. Leelee Sobieski and Jennifer Lopez also took their earliest dance classes at the School.
A number of alumni are now artistic directors in their own right, including Damaris Ferrer, founder and Artistic Director of Bailes Ferrer; solo flamenco artist Sandra Rivera; and Nelida Tirado, who was featured in Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2007. Former Company member Eduardo Vilaro was Founder and Artistic Director of Luna Negra Dance Theater before taking the reins as Artistic Director at Ballet Hispanico when Ramirez stepped down.
Ramirez drew on the resources of the Company and School to create Ballet Hispanico's innovative educational program, Primeros Pasos ("First Steps"), which provides public schools with custom-tailored units of study in dance and Hispanic culture and offers a broad range of other educational activities for the public. This wide-ranging initiative regularly reaches 15,000 students and adults in New York City and across the nation.
Recognition
Ramirez' enduring contributions to the field of dance earned her the National Medal of ArtsNational Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
, the nation's highest cultural honor, in 2005. She received the Honor Award from Dance/USA in 2009 and the Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in 2007. In 2004, AARP Magazine cited Ramirez as "a cultural trailblazer" and chose her as one of its ten "People of the Year." She received the Dance Magazine Award in 2002. Ramirez was named a Latina of the Year by Latina Magazine in 2000. In 1999, she received an Hispanic Heritage Award, presented at a gala celebration at The Kennedy Center. Among her other honors are a Citation of Honor at the 1995 New York Dance and Performance Awards (the "Bessies"), a special tribute at the Capezio Dance Awards in 1992, the NYS Governor's Arts Award (1987), the NYC Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture (1983), and the Manhattan Borough President's Award (1988). She was honored by the National Puerto Rican Forum at their 25th Anniversary Dinner.
Ramirez has served on the boards of The New 42nd Street, the Association of Hispanic Arts, and Dance Theatre Workshop. She was Co-Chair for the NYC Department of Education Dance Curriculum Blueprint Committee; she has also served on numerous panels, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and The Rockefeller Foundation's Choreographers Awards.