It’s the name on everyone’s lips.
© Ballet Hispánico New York
The last time Eduardo Vilaro visited the Inland Northwest he was a young dancer for one of the nation’s leading Latine dance companies, Ballet Hispánico New York. Though he says that was many moons ago, he’s experiencing a bit of déjà vu as the dance company he now leads stops in Spokane to perform at Gonzaga University’s Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center.
On the tail-end of a two-year tour, Ballet Hispánico performs “CARMEN.maquia” on Sunday, March 22. The 100-minute ballet choreographed by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano is a cultural reclamation of one of the most popular operas in the world: Carmen.
Composed by Parisian Georges Bizet in 1875, the four-act opera set in southern Spain follows a young and independent Carmen as she struggles for agency in a love triangle between soldier Don José (who inevitably kills her) and bullfighter Escamillo.
Rivaled only by Verdi’s La Traviata and Puccini’s La Bohème, Carmen has found popularity outside the stage, too. You’ve likely heard a snippet of “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” or more popularly referred to as “Habanera,” in one of many movies or TV shows you’ve watched over the years. The sparkling aria, usually played to build tension for a longer joke or dramatic moment, has appeared in The Muppets, The Simpsons, Up, and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Despite the opera’s Spanish setting and characters, Ballet Hispánico’s CEO and Artistic Director Vilaro says Carmen has always been a French story.
“[Prosper] Mérimée wrote it, and then two librettists created it for the Opéra-Comique. It was an appropriation because at that time, there was such an intersection of artists in Paris, and people were seeing tango and flamenco and all of that stuff,” Vilaro explains. “The Spanish just took it over, but when you hear Carmen’s [other] versions, they’re not by Spaniards. And so this was an opportune moment for [Ramirez Sansano] to really create something with what he felt has the nuance of a Spanish choreographer.”
Ramirez Sansano’s piece was first performed by Ballet Hispánico in 2014, and in the last decade the abstract reinterpretation has become a staple for the company.
“It is a very contemporary look at the story. The choreographer wanted to remove the trappings of the Spanish culture as it’s been done before. You know, the clicking castanets, the red dresses, the florals, the matadors and all these capes and things, he wanted to remove all of that. So, this is a white-and-black ballet,” Vilaro says. “There are some drops that have a nod to Pablo Picasso, because Pablo was very much enamored by Carmen, but it is a story that the language in the [dancers’] movement really is telling the story. It is a work that captures the story of Carmen from a very Spanish perspective.”
The storyline remains largely the same as the opera — Vilaro says it’s impossible to get away from the central plot of triangulated love — but the choreography brought to life by a team of just 15 dancers keeps the ballet fresh more than a decade after it premiered.
Founded by Tina Ramirez in 1970, Ballet Hispánico was formed to celebrate and create more Hispanic stories in the country by focusing on “innovative ways to explore the depth of latinidad.” (The term refers to the shared experiences and culture of Latino people.)
Although Vilaro admits that the dance company’s name leads many to exoticize it as a group from outside the U.S., he thinks it’s important to showcase the unique experience of Latino Americans. That cultural sharing is especially important in a time when the Trump administration’s immigration policies strike fear of detention or deportation into U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who, since a September 2025 Supreme Court emergency ruling, can at least for now be stopped by ICE based on their race or ethnicity.
“I have had ICE moments on this last tour, so know that this is real for us. And I have stood up and I said, ‘No, that’s not happening,’” he says, recalling a moment when he helped prevent the detention of a minor. “We’re going to be on stage. You’re going to see us. You’re going to hear something different, and you’re going to understand the importance of culture for our world and our humanness.
“I’m a brown gay man. My life has been about maneuvering around stereotypes, hate, dismissal and not being seen. I have really developed a tough skin, and I do believe that standing in your power is the most important thing one can do right now,” he continues. “There are people who are doing more than I’m doing by standing in front of guns, but I still think that my organization standing up to all kinds of hate is what’s needed, because what we bring is joy. What we bring is reflection. What we bring is life. So we have not changed anything, and we will continue to go on.”
Ballet Hispánico New York: CARMEN.maquia • Sun, March 22 at 7:30 pm • $26-$48 • Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center • 211 E. Desmet Ave. • gonzaga.edu/mwpac