45th Anniversary Gala

In the 1940s, when Rosario and Antonio lived and worked in the United States, the couple appeared in several Hollywood musicals. One of these was Hollywood Canteen (1944), written to boost the morale of soldiers fighting in the Second World War. In the film we hear an orchestral adaptation of El Vito, a type of traditional Andalusian music – and the dance number that accompanies it gives an insight into the shows that the couple toured America with: a rapid intertwining of spins and taps that prized spectacle over technique. Rubén Olmo has chosen this dance as a nod to Antonio Ruiz Soler’s cinematographic side, which would continue in Spain with his career as a leading actor.

Antonio Ruiz Soler’s interpretation of Pablo Sarasate’s score boosted his profile as a dancer and choreographer, and it became one of the mainstays of his repertoire from its debut in 1946 at the Teatro Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. The influence of claque on the technique of this particular zapateado makes it a perfect example of virtuosic, stylised flamenco. In 1959, Antonio performed a version of this solo as he walked down a country road in the film Honeymoon, an Anglo-Spanish co-production directed by Michael Powell, visually reminiscent of Gene Kelly in An American in Paris. Over the years, it has been performed by countless leading dancers of various companies, each one trying to follow Antonio’s maxim: “Dancing it means caressing the floor; you have to speak with the floor, not kick it”.

Teaser

This jota, premiered in 1975, is the most danced of the Spanish repertory. Salvador Ruiz de Luna composed the music, based on traditional aragonian music, in deep collaboration with the choreographer, Pedro Azorín. This is key to explain the impressive stage performance that has contributed to its popularity. Jota Aragón was premiered by the Ballet Nacional de España on the 21st of December, 2023, as a part of the 45º Anniversary Show, due to the declaration of jota as an Intangible Cultural Heritage representative element.

Jota Aragon workshop