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Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento to Perform at Mondavi Center

-Local favorites Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento (IMBA), one of California' foremost Mexican dance companies, will perform Ballet Folklorico, a set of dances reflecting Mexican folk traditions from the Aztecs to the present, at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis. The 29-member company will bring the colorful, celebratory music and dance traditions of Guerrero, Jalisco, Veracruz, Michoacan, and more to life in choreography by Zenon Barron, Amalia Hernandez, Steven Valencia, and Abelardo Cisneros.

The event will begin at 3 pm on Sunday, October 12 in the Mondavi Center's Jackson Hall on the UC Davis campus. Tickets are available from the Mondavi Center Ticket Office at 530.754.ARTS (2787) or online at MondaviArts.org. The event is presented as part of the Mondavi Center's World Stage series and part of the UC Davis Centennial celebration. For more information on the centennial, please visit http://centennial.ucdavis.edu/

Initially known as Grupo Folklorico Mazatlan, IMBA was founded in 1994 by Yolanda Colosio, who learned Mexican folk dance traditions while growing up in Calexico, just across the border from Mexicali. She started Grupo Folklorico Mazatlan with her son, daughter, niece, and nephew, in a small studio on Sacramento's Stockton Boulevard, teaching traditional folk dances of Mexico to about 20 students. The group's performances quickly found an audience and they became regulars at regional fairs and holiday celebrations. Artistic Director Steven Valencia joined the staff in 1998, and in 2000 the company changed its name to IMBA.

Since 2000, IMBA has toured throughout California and the southwest as well as in China and Mexico and has won national and international competitions including the Folklorico Festival 2006 at Texas Woman's University. The company has performed in many of California's most prestigious venues, including Sacramento Community Center Theater, Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, and the Gallo Center for Performing Arts, often with well-known Mexican recording artists such as Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi los Camperos, Nydia Rojas, Pablo Montero, Yolanda del Rio, and Gerardo Fernandez.

Dances to be featured in the Mondavi Center performance include "Aztlan a Tenochtitlan" by Abelardo Cisneros, a depiction of Aztec mythology; "Fiesta Tabasqueña" by Zenon Barron, which incorporates Spanish, African, and indigenous Mexican influences; "Sones Antiguos de Michoacan" by Amalia Hernandez, which features sonajas, or rattle dances; Steven Valencia's "Veracruz," an adaptation of music and dance from the Sotavento region of the state of Veracruz; Valencia and Barron's collaboration on "Por los Caminos del Sur," featuring the Spanish gypsy and African-influenced traditions of Guerrero; and Valencia's "Jalisco," featuring costumes, music, and dance from the region known as the birthplace of mariachi music.

"Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento has long been established in our region and around California as one of the most authentic and committed of Mexican folkloric dance companies," said Don Roth, the Mondavi Center's executive director. "We are pleased to be hosting their performance as part of our World Stage series."

What: Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes de Sacramento

Ballet Folklorico

When: Sunday, October 12 ▪ 3 pm

Where: Jackson Hall

Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

University of California, Davis

Admission: $40/$30/$20 Adults