ALBUQUERQUE – The National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) is proud to present El Pintor: Perfiles de Mujer for two nights, March 12 and 13 at 8 pm in its Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $15, $20, $25 with a $5 NHCC member discount and can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or in person at the NHCC box office. The NHCC is located at 1701 4th Street SW on the corner of 4th Street and Avenida César Chávez.
El Pintor is based on the work of the renowned Spanish painter Julio Romero de Torres (1874 – 1930) and his love for Andalusian women. Through modernistic, lyrical choreography and music using traditional flamenco rhythms, poetic Spanish lyrics, and imagery, El Pintor brings to life his most adored model. Teresa María López, a 14-year-old maid in the Romero household, was the model chosen for his final masterpiece, “La Chiquita Piconera” (The Little Coal Girl, 1930). Romero’s obsession and unconsummated fantasy caused him to idealize and transform her simple, innocent beauty into that of an immortal, sensuous woman with sorrowful eyes.
Romero’s paintings depict conflicting themes of tragedy and death running parallel with themes of his love for flamenco and Andalusian women. The production, a dance drama written and directed by Theresa Cardenas and choreographed by Pablo Rodarte uses four flamenco dancers to tell the story (Emmy Grimm, Illeana Gómez, Bianca Rodriguez and Adriana Maresma Fois). The production is set in two acts and also features guitarist José Valle Fajardo “Chuscales, singer Vicente Griego and percussionist Enrique Chávez Herrera “El Perú”.
This production is a presenting partnership with Theresa Cardenas Spanish Dance Theatre. El Pintor is also part of the NHCC’s annual celebration “Women & Creativity”, a month-long celebration during March of women and the arts. The NHCC, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Hispanic art and culture at the local, state, national, and international levels.