Dance Salad Festival

Dance Magazine, March, 2005 by Christie Taylor

Latin influences prevail at the 13th annual Dance Salad Festival, at Houston's Wortham Theater Center, March 24-26. The coup d'etat this year is Mexico's Ballet de Monterrey, making its U.S. debut in a work by artistic director Robert Hill, formerly of American Ballet Theatre. Set to original compositions by Mexican composers, Huapango highlights the company's artistic skill and appreciation for Latin culture. The Norwegian National Ballet will present Nacho Duato's Por Vos Muero and BJM Danse (formerly Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal) will perform his Remansos.

Although works by Jiri Kylian, Alonzo King, Karole Armitage, and Dominic Walsh temper the festival's Spanish flair, festival producer Nancy Henderek insists the event's focus will always remain global. Henderek, who brought the festival to Texas from Brussels 10 years ago, scours rehearsal studios from Copenhagen to Beijing to assemble each year's roster, www.dancesalad.org