The Calpulli Dance Company is set to take the stage at Flushing Town Hall for an original production of Navidad, allowing guests to experience a merging of Christmas traditions, from Mariachi music blended with Tchaikovsky to folk dance and ballet.
The show, located at 137-35 Northern Blvd. in Flushing, is taking place Saturday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m. The one-hour production tells the story of a young girl from Mexican immigrant parents growing up in New York City, allowing audiences to experience a merging of dance, music, and culture that blends two worlds together in a beautiful fusion, embracing both old and new traditions.
The production was first developed in 2018 under the artistic direction of Alberto Lopez Herrera, with music direction by George Saenz, dramaturgy by Gabriela Garcia, and co-story writer Juan Castaño, Calpulli’s executive director. The program has been adapted for FTH by the company’s artistic director, Grisel Pren Monje. The company, founded in 2003 in Jackson Heights, sought to share Mexican culture through dance, which they did for over a decade before expanding to telling stories through folk dance, through stories such as Navidad.
“This was a story that was inspired by the students in our community classes who are navigating the immigrant experience and the immigrant parents who are finding their way in another country, figuring out how to navigate the duality of identity,” said Castaño.
In the story, a young girl has a dream where she imagines the fusion of Mariachi music with Tchaikovsky, folk dance with ballet, and experiences traditions from Aztec-inspired dance to Christmas carols. However, during the dream, one character says she must choose one, while another says she can have both, and ultimately she must decide.
“We embody it through a nutcracker doll and a Mexican doll, with one character saying you have to pick one, and another character saying you can have both, and that’s really the battle in the story,” said Castaño.
The production is filled with beautiful costumes, combining traditional Mariachi dresses with inspiration from the Rockettes’ costumes, and a blending of the Nutcracker with Mariachi elements. Saturday’s production, adapted by Pren Monje, though shorter, is just as meaningful, structured like the 12 Days of Christmas, allowing audiences to remember and embrace the joy and meaningfulness of the season.
“When we were rewriting it, I thought, it’s almost like opening a gift,” said Pren Monje. “Each segment on the show is a new gift, a new style, new music, and movement. When I was adapting it and working through the storyline, I just thought about how I wanted to reflect the real Mexican and the Mexican American traditions in a way that feels joyful, authentic, and most important, that represents our community and what our Mexican American families live every day, through the season, every year.”
The show, perfect for all ages and backgrounds to enjoy, offers audiences a festive and unique experience that everyone can relate to and take something away from when they leave the theater, not just during the holiday season but throughout the year.
“With all of our stories and our performances, we want the Mexican American community to be represented,” said Castaño. “However, when we started writing stories about 15 years ago, what we found is that we have so much more in common than we think, so I hope that people of audiences, of all ages, come out with the joy that Grisel built into the story, and with the feeling that we have so much more in common than than we think.”
General admission is $15 for adults, $12 for members and $8 for children 12 and under. Navidad is a one-hour show without an intermission. For more information visit their website.
