Bringing Age to the Stages of the Dance Profession in Puerto Rico
The San Juan project followed a unique focus. It set out to open for the first time in the island, opportunities for older dancers to be seen on the stages of the dance profession. Two veteran dancers Jesús Miranda and Ana Sánchez Colberg completed a two-week residency at La Goyco that developed a 5 minute duet shown as part of Ballet de San Juan's Festival De Danza Showcase, March 22, 2025 at the Sala Rene Marquéz, Luis A Ferré, Fine Arts Center in San Juan.
The process of music composition was in itself part of the project's efforts to uncover hidden histories. The music composition pays 'homage' to Estela Arán Ditler (1914-1992)/. Estela was a native of Mayagüez, since childhood she had a calling for piano, including various compositions of traditional 'danzas' now lost. The project interview family members who remembered fragments of the composition. Using a variety of digital tools sound designer Gabriel Rivera Vázquez captured fragments of family members playing what they could remember of the original composition. This was remastered by Gabriel Rivera Vázquez as accompaniment for the duet.
The duet will now be incorporated into the evolving material for the final performance event to take place in September 2025.
