Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Last updated

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (born 30 April 1973) is a Belgian-Colombian international ballet dancer and choreographer based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Contents

Dance background

Born in Antwerpen to a Colombian father and a Belgian mother, [1] Lopez Ochoa completed her dance training at the Koninklijke Balletschool Antwerpen  [ nl ], Belgium. She appeared with various German companies before eventually joining Djazzex, a contemporary dance company, in 1993. In 1997, she joined Scapino Ballet  [ nl ] in Rotterdam, where she was a soloist for seven years. [2]

Choreographic style

Overall, Lopez Ochoa's work relates emotional experience through an abstract but intently connected style of choreography, which occasionally relies on virtuosic technique. Her movement is contemporary, however, she occasionally displays classical virtuosity, such as a soaring grand jeté. Because she uses the abstract form, her works do not have established plot lines or characters. She does, however, want the dancers to "tell a story" within the work. She achieves this by emphasizing the eyes, using them as a connecting point among the dancers on stage as well as with the audience. To organize her movement, she is interested in "constructed chaos", a carefully structured work that appears to lack structure. This method makes her creations insightfully detailed while remaining well organized. Lopez Ochoa enjoys working with a wide range of dancers, and also enjoys working with actors. She finds inspiration primarily from art and music, not from the dancers or from other choreographers. [3]

Before After

Lopez Ochoa's first critically acclaimed work in the United States is Before After in 2006, a seven-minute duet which "delineates the last moments of a relationship". [4] The New York Times described the number as short and simple, but also "the most moving, the most mysterious, the most heartily cheered". [5] Laura Bleiberg suggested that the piece was not unique in its themes or structure, and that "Ochoa added few insights".[ This quote needs a citation ]Before After is at this date on the repertoire of Dutch National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Gothenborg Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Whim Whim, Ballet Nacional Dominicano, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. [6]

Awards

Lopez Ochoa won the International Choreographic Competition Hannover in 2001 with her work Clair/Obscur. She also won first prize at the Bornem International Choreopgrapher's Competition in 2002 with Replay. In the fall of 2007, she participated in the New York Choreographic Institute, working for two weeks with the New York City Ballet. In January 2013, Lopez Ochoa was awarded the 'Best Classical Choreography' award by The Critics' Circle of the National Dance Awards UK for the production A Streetcar Named Desire, her first full-length ballet which she choreographed for the Scottish Ballet. In that same year the production received the South Bank Awards 2012 and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award. In January 2015, her work Sombrerisismo, created for Ballet Hispanico and one of the three commissions by the 2014 Fall for Dance Festival in New York City, is awarded with the Villanueva Critics' Award in Cuba.[ citation needed ]

List of works

Lopez Ochoa has choreographed more than hundred works for 80 dance companies around the world [1] such as: New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Ballet du Grand Theatre du Genève, Ankara Modern Dance Theater, BalletX, Pennsylvania Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Istanbul Modern Dance Theater, BJM-Danse Montreal, Le Jeune Ballet du Québec, Gothenborg Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet National de Marseille, Ballet Hispanico, Jacoby & Pronk, Saarbrücken Ballett, Chemnitzer Ballett, Whim W'him, Incolballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Scottish Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Ballet Austin, The Washington Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Augsburg, Ballet Nacional Dominicano, Incolballet de Cali, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Ballet Moscow, West Australian Ballet, Ballet Manila, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Chile, Ballet del Municipal de Santiago, and Danza Contemporanea de Cuba.

Lopez Ochoa has created a number of narrative ballets of which two are based on the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Broken Wings (2016) and Frida. [7] [8]

Other ballets based on existing material are Dangerous Liaisons (2016), and The Little Prince (2019). Her ballets based on the life of history-making women include Callas, La Divina (2023), Doña Perón (2022). Her ballet based on the life of Coco Chanel, Coco Chanel, the Life of a Fashion Icon, was commissioned by Hong Kong Ballet where it premiered in 2023, Atlanta Ballet where it was shown in February 2024, and Queensland Ballet which showed it in October that year. [1]

Related Research Articles

English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain. English National Ballet is one of the foremost touring companies in Europe, performing in theatres throughout the UK as well as conducting international tours and performing at special events. The Company employs approximately 67 dancers and a symphony orchestra,. In 1984 Peter Schaufuss became director and changed the name to English National Ballet and founded the school English National Ballet School, which is independent from the ballet company but joining the company premises in the new building. The Company regularly performs seasons at the London Coliseum and has been noted for specially staged performances at the Royal Albert Hall. In 2014 English National Ballet became an Associate Company of Sadler's Wells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban National Ballet</span> Cuban classical ballet company

The Cuban National Ballet is a classical ballet company based at Great Theatre of Havana in Havana, Cuba, founded by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso in 1948. The official school of the company is the Cuban National Ballet School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandra Ferri</span> Italian prima ballerina

Alessandra Ferri OMRI is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before temporally retiring on 10 August 2007, aged 44, then returning in 2013. She was eventually granted the rank of prima ballerina assoluta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Ramirez</span> American dancer (1929–2022)

Ernestina Ramirez was an American dancer and educator, best known as the founder and artistic director (1970–2009) of Ballet Hispanico, the premier Latino dance organization in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Yerbabuena</span> Spanish flamenco dancer

Eva María Garrido García, known professionally as Eva Yerbabuena, is a Spanish flamenco dancer. She formed her own dance company in 1998 and won Spain's National Dance Award in 2001. She is considered one of flamenco's leading performers.

Alexandre Magno is a Brazilian born choreographer and director. His dance styles include hip-hop, jazz, ballet, samba, flamenco, tango, salsa, and martial arts. He has performed with Madonna, Yanni, Britney Spears, the Lido La Tourné, Ballet Hispanico, the Ringling Brothers Circus, and the Academy Awards. He also works with his own dance company, “Personna Dance Theatre".

Alberto Julio Rayneri Alonso was a Cuban dancer and choreographer, the brother of Fernando Alonso and brother-in-law of Alicia Alonso. He was influential in the development of the Cuban style of ballet, a combination of Russian and Western techniques with a Latin style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicente Nebrada</span> Venezuelan choreographer and ballet dancer (1930–2002)

Vicente Balbino Nebreda Arias was a choreographer and dancer who was considered a Venezuelan pioneer for dance during the 1940s. He was part of the Cátedra de Ballet del Liceo Andrés Bello, the first attempt at a formal dance school in the country. Later on, he danced with Ballet Nacional de Venezuela, the first long term professional company. Nebrada was also one of the first Venezuelan dancers to have an international career, he worked with Roland Petit’s company in France, the Joffrey Ballet, the Harkness Ballet in the United States, and Ballet Nacional de Cuba. His extensive career as a choreographer began in 1958, when he began his professional career, and ended with the creation of his version of The Nutcracker in 1996. He created 61 original choreographies and adaptations of universally classic repertoires for diverse companies all over the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballet Hispanico</span>

Ballet Hispánico is an American dance company based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded by the Puerto Rican-Mexican-American dancer and choreographer Tina Ramirez in 1970 and presents dances reflecting the experience of Hispanic and Latino Americans.

Jacopo Godani is an Italian dancer-choreographer who directs Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company

Renato Zanella is an Italian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and director. He studied classical ballet for several years before becoming a choreographer for various professional companies. Due to his success, he has won many awards and honorary titles within the ballet community.

Maia Makhateli is a Georgian ballet dancer. After terms with the Colorado Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, she joined the Dutch National Ballet in 2006, where she now is a principal dancer.

Katarzyna Kozielska is a Polish ballet choreographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goyo Montero</span>

Goyo Montero Morell is a Spanish ballet dancer, a ballet director and a choreographer.

Yumiko Takeshima is a Japanese designer and former Principal dancer with Semperoper Ballett, Universal Ballet, the Alberta Ballet Company, Feld Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet. Born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Takeshima began dancing at the age of four in Sapporo. At the age of thirteen, she studied at the San Francisco Ballet School in the United States. Takeshima continued to dance throughout the 90s and early 2000s and started designing dancewear and costumes for ballet companies from all over the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eduardo Vilaro</span> Cuban American dancer (b. 1964)

Eduardo Vilaro is a Cuban-American dancer, choreographer, educator, and artistic director & CEO of Ballet Hispánico. He first joined Ballet Hispánico as a principal dancer in 1985, leaving for Chicago a decade later to further his education and found the Luna Negra Dance Theater, for which he was artistic director. He returned to Ballet Hispánico in 2009 as artistic director, the second since the organization's founding in 1970, and has also served as CEO for the company since 2015 when a reorganization merged these artistic and administrative roles. His vision for Ballet Hispánico draws on the Latin dance traditions and educational outreach set forth by founder Tina Ramirez while responding to the more complex cultural landscape of the 21st century with a greater focus on diversity, inclusion, and community engagement.

Pontus Karl Johan Lidberg is a Swedish born choreographer, dancer and filmmaker.

Broken Wings is a one-act ballet about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, dramaturged by Nancy Meckler and designed by Dieuweke van Reij. The music was composed by Peter Salem, and featured Mexican folk song "La Llorona" sung by Chavela Vargas. The ballet premiered on 13 April 2016 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, danced by the English National Ballet, with Tamara Rojo as Kahlo and Irek Mukhamedov as Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera. Lopez Ochoa then created a three-act version titled Frida for the Dutch National Ballet, premiered in 2020.

Richard Wherlock is a British dancer and choreographer. He has directed Ballett Basel since 2001.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Deborah Jones (22 July 2024). "Just Say 'Yes'" . Limelight . pp. 22–28. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Annabelle Lopez Ochoa". Scapino Ballet. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "Style Meets Substance: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa". Dance Magazine . 26 March 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  4. ↑ Jowitt, Deborah (26 September 2006). "See How They Move!". The Village Voice .
  5. ↑ John Rockwell (30 September 2006). "Annual Sampler Ranges from Tableaus to a Pas de Deux". The New York Times . p. B10. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "Second Fall for Dance falls short". The Orange County Register . 14 October 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. ↑ Siegal, Nina (17 January 2020). "Frida Kahlo Could Barely Walk. In This Ballet, She Dances". The New York Times .
  8. ↑ Watts, Graham (10 February 2020). "Dutch National Ballet – Frida – Amsterdam". DanceTabs.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.