Instituto Coreográfico gives a voice to young artists and opens access to the dance-making process for all audiences.
When Ballet Hispánico was founded 53 years ago, Latinx artists were invisible to the dance field. Since its founding, Ballet Hispánico has played an instrumental role in changing the narrative - now, generations of Latinx artists have produced art that reinterpret their heritage, bringing fresh perspectives on the Latinx experience. In 2010, Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro launched Instituto Coreográfico, a choreographic institute for Latinx artists to create culturally specific work in a nurturing learning laboratory of dance. The choreographer in residence is paired with an emerging filmmaker to document their process, create promotional materials, and add a layer of artistic collaboration.
Instituto Coreográfico also invites dance patrons to respond, reflect, and enter into a cultural dialogue with the artists about dance and culture in a safe, critical environment at a work-in-progress showing during the choreographer’s residency. With this invaluable platform, Ballet Hispánico continues to give a voice to young artists and opens access to the dance making process for all audiences.
Instituto Coreográfico Residency Dates: June 20-30, 2023
Filmmaker Applications Due: May 31, 2023 at 5:00 PM EST
All Applicants Must:
• Be at least 18 years old
• Identify as Latinx (a,o,e), Hispanic, Latin American
• Filmmakers should have fewer than 5 years of professional experience
• Be open to working with an emerging artist from the other discipline
• Available June 20 - June 30, a minimum of 5 hours each day, between 9 am and 6 pm EST
To Apply:
Submit a Filmmaker Application Form, which can be accessed here, that will require you to provide the following:
• Headshot
• Short Bio (150 words max)
• Resume
• Artistic statement defining artistic focus and long-term artistic goals (500 words max)
• 5-10 minute work sample. The work sample can be in-studio or fully produced. No more than 10 minutes of video will be reviewed by the panel.
• Please avoid using short edits that show fewer than 30 seconds of your work in continuity. Videos must be uploaded to Vimeo, YouTube, or Google Drive. For password protected videos, you must provide the password.
• 2-3 References – preferably from your artistic field.
Timeline:
• May 11, 2023: Open call for submissions
• May 31, 2023: Submission deadline
• June 5, 2023: Notification sent to all applicants
• June 20-30, 2023: Residency with open rehearsals (open rehearsal dates TBD)
• June 29, 2023 Work(s)-in-progress showing and discussion
Instituto Coreográfico: Showcasing Mark Travis Rivera
Showing: Thursday, June 29, 2023
Telling stories is at the core of Mark Travis Rivera’s purpose in life. He is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and the Founder + Chief Executive Officer of The Professional Storyteller.
As a writer, Rivera’s bylines include The Bergen Record, Herald News, The Star-Ledger, Fox News Latino, and The Huffington Post. He was also a contributing author in the anthology, Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to a Global Pandemic (PM Press, 2022), edited by Adrian Shanker. His debut collection, Drafts: An Imperfect Collection of Writing, was published in August 2017. He was also a contributing writer for Imagining: A Gibney Journal, where he shared his experience as a disabled choreographer and dancer.
As a stubborn and determined 17-year-old, Rivera founded marked dance project (2009-2019), becoming the youngest person in the United States to create and lead an integrated dance company for disabled and non-disabled dancers. Inspired by his desire to dance as a person with cerebral palsy, he would go on to help disabled and non-disabled dancers alike find their voice as artists. As a Puerto Rican queer man, he was also one of just a handful of artistic directors of color in the disability dance field in the United States. As an independent disabled choreographer, Mark is determined to build a bridge between the main dance field and disability dance.
As a speaker, he has addressed audiences at various institutions of higher learning, including Harvard, MIT, Rutgers, and NYU. As a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and facilitator, he has spoken to corporate audiences virtually in the UK, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Israel, China, and India, just to name a few. His TEDx Talk, “Embracing Yourself, Embracing Your Potential,” was a smash in 2014 at Bergen Community College.
A first-generation high school and college graduate, Rivera earned his bachelor’s degree in women’s & gender studies with a minor in public relations from William Paterson University of New Jersey. In 2013, Rivera received the Student Government Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to the William Paterson community. That same year, he was honored with the Campus Pride National Voice & Action Award for his work with the LGBTQ community. More recently, he won the Audre Lorde Award for Social Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Lavender Legacy Award from William Paterson.
Mark also serves as Board Secretary for the Board of Directors at AXIS Dance Company, the nation’s leading integrated dance company. He formerly served as the Community Engagement Manager and apprentice. He is represented as a speaker by Hummingbird Humanity and their Speaks Bureau and is a member of the WE CREATE SPACE global collective of LGBTQ+ leaders. He was raised a Jersey boy, lived in New York City and the Bay Area, but now calls Atlanta, GA, home.
Filmmaker Applications must be submitted by May 31, 2023 at 5:00pm EST. Incomplete submissions might not be reviewed. Any questions regarding the application process may be submitted to instituto@ballethispanico.org
Instituto Coreográfico with Michelle Manzanales
Thursday December 15, 2022.
In her new work, Michelle Manzanales takes on the powerful Mexican visionary Sor Juana, who was a 17th century nun, self-taught scholar and acclaimed writer of the Latin American colonial period and the Hispanic Baroque.
Major funding for Instituto Coreográfico was provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
"As a dancer here back in the 80s, I could count on my hand the number of Latinx choreographers that would come through the door…[Instituto Coreográfico] is a way of nourishing, mentoring, and developing leaders and artists of color, in particular Latinas and Latinos."
-Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director & CEO
Applications Open!
We are currently accepting applications for Ballet Hispánico's Instituto Coreográfico.
Please fill out a form here.
Previously Selected Choreographers for Instituto Coreográfico
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Michelle Manzanales, 2022
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Omar Román De Jesús, 2022
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Marielis Garcia, 2021
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Ramón Oller, 2019
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Maria Barrios, 2019
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Bennyroyce Royon, 2018
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Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, 2018
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Carlos Pons Guerra, 2017
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Stephanie Martinez, 2016
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Fernando Melo, 2015
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Michelle Manzanales, 2015
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Miguel Mancillas, 2014
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Rosie Herrera, 2013
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Abdul Latif, 2012
