press and reviews
Keith Widyolar, New York Latin Culture Magazine, November 22, 2023
“The Mexican community in New York yearns to know more about its historical identity, its cultural antecedents, and is in constant need of cultural affirmation. Through “Nacimiento,” and other performances, Ballet Nepantla plays the role of cultural ambassador.“
UTSA Today, Traci L. Guinn, October 15, 2023
“Immerse yourself in the mystical world of the afterlife created on stage with blacklight and breathtaking choreography.”
Sofia Mireles-Gonzalez, MSU Today, September 14, 2023
“This particular event seeks to underscore not only the wealth of Latinx heritage, but also their contributions, including social, political, cultural, scientific and, in this case, the arts,”
Scott Ball, San Antonio Report, May 29, 2023
“Ballet Nepantla, a New York-based dance company, performs Wednesday at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.”
Nicholas Frank, San Antonio Report, May 18, 2023
“Having young students, professional dancers and seniors all participating together in a multigenerational, history-based performance will fulfill the vision of Katherine Espinoza, CULTIVAR project team member and TAMU-SA assistant professor”
Nancy D. Lackey Shaffer, VC Reporter, April 13, 2023
“This performance and master class are valuable opportunities for our students to see how Ballet Nepantla has fused Folklorico dance with contemporary movement expression.”
Cindy Aguirre, Seguin Today, March 3, 2023
“We are excited to have that opportunity for our students to open a show for a professional dance troupe”
San Antonio Living, October 26, 2022
“We get to remember and pay respect to those we’ve lost and who we still love, as we take a journey from the physical world into the afterlife through the use of blacklight.”
TAMIU Newsletter, October 12, 2022
“Ballet Nepantla is a celebration of our border and the things that define and bind us…”
Roksana Amid, LI Herald, August 11, 2022
“I thought it would be an important part of the festival,” Guajardo said. “There is a portion of the Glen Cove community that is Mexican or Mexican-American.”
Martin Cid Magazine, July 28, 2022
"“Let Down” tells the story of a lost love that confronts gender normative dancing, while providing representation for queer females in dance.”"
Sophie Bress, Fjord Review, July 2022
“Ballet Nepantla’s dancers breathe life into these historical figures, and in doing so, make las adelitas extensions of themselves and their own stories.”
Lourdes Del Mar Santiago Lebrón, PillowPicks, July 2022
“The importance of Valentina lies in exemplifying the strength of women and bringing the stories of women of color to the forefront of art."
Lourdes Del Mar Santiago Lebrón, PillowPicks, July 2022
“La importancia de Valentina está en la amplificación de la fuerza de las mujeres y la visibilidad de las historias de mujeres de color en el arte.”
Keith Widyolar, New York Latin Culture, May 5, 2022
“What New York City Ballet’s George Balanchine did with the folkloric dances of his native Russia, Ballet Nepantla is doing with the folkloric dances of Mexico.”
Cristóbal López and Victoria Villaseñor, San Antonio Express-News, March 27, 2022
“The transformation of Mexican womanhood in Ballet Nepantla’s “Valentina” mirrors the transformation of a nation during the Mexican Revolution”
Telemundo, March 4, 2022
“El Ballet Nepantla presenta “Valentina”, un espectáculo que profundiza en el esfuerzo de las adelitas durante un periodo de gran tumulto en México.”
Jack Morgan, Texas Public Radio, March 3, 2022
“…those who come can expect the unexpected.“
San Antonio Magazine, March 3, 2022
“Fans and followers of this New York City-based dance company can experience a story ballet that highlights the role of women during Revolutionary Mexico.“
Wilson County News, February 22, 2022
““Valentina” embraces experiences on both sides of the border and celebrates the culture and history of immigrants and Latinx people.”
San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, February, 16, 2022
“The performance fuses traditional ballet folklórico with contemporary ballet that hits at the heartstrings of people from all cultures.”
Telemundo 60, June 25, 2021
“Mística…le rinde tributo a las pérdidas humanas por el COVID-19 y a la tradición muy mexicana de Día de los Muertos.”
Holly LaRoche, Dance Informa, March 25, 2020
“Fusing these styles seamlessly, Ballet Nepantla knows how to live in the in-between spaces not only of dance styles but also of different times and cultures.”
Martin Torres II, Edinburg CISD Media, March 6, 2020
“The New York-based dance group was founded by Edinburg North High School graduate Andrea Guajardo.”
Trevor Flynn, San Antonio Current, February 26, 2020
“…Valentina, features the whirling skirts and twirling rifles of traditional dances about the women warriors of the Mexican Revolution — the Adelitas — but it also tells a narrative through contemporary and classical ballet.”
Jasmina Wellinghoff, Arts Alive San Antonio, February 25, 2020
“Though young, the company has already made its mark on the New York dance scene and nationally...”
Leon Camacho, Mariachi Music, February, 3, 2020
“Andrea and Martín imagined they could create performances that spoke to the “in-between” qualities of being from both sides of the borderland.”
Matthew Wilson, The Monitor, October 16, 2019
“Instead of tights and tutus, the dancers wear flowing skirts and serapes.”
Juan Michael Porter II, Broadway World, October 7, 2019
“Every choreographic step was like a musical note in a beautifully composed score.”
The Shorthorn, Samantha Knowles, October 2, 2019
“The prestige of the performers and the cultural aspects of the show even attracted viewers from outside of Arlington.”
Gary Long, The Brownsville Herald, March 26, 2019
“…students in Los Fresnos got a glimpse of life in New York City on Monday and at the same time celebrated their Mexican-American culture when they previewed the Ballet Nepantla production of Valentina.”
Fernando Cardenas, NY 1 Noticias, March 24, 2019
“Su nueva producción se llama Valentina, un ensamble de cuadros alusivos al decisivo papel que tuvo la mujer en la Revolución Mexicana.”
Josue Ramirez, Neta RGV, March 21, 2019
“Guajardo and her collaborator, Martin Rodriguez, created a hybrid style that not only references their personal and cultural history but one that is also a counter narrative to the current rhetoric surrounding immigrants and Latinx people.”
Tammy Scileppi, QNS, February 21, 2019
“This exciting company fuses contemporary and folkorico dance to create something that is both familiar and fresh at the same time.”
Romeo Cantu, ECISD Public Information Office, August 22, 2018
“It brings the Mexican culture to a class of people that otherwise wouldn’t go out and see Mexican Folklorico.”
Romeo Cantu, ECISD Public Information Office, August 22, 2018
“…I saw it as a way to expose wider audiences to traditional Mexican Folklorico, this beautiful genre of dance and beautiful side of the Mexican culture that they’ve never seen before.”
Daniel Tyx, The Texas Observer, December 8, 2017
"Ballet Nepantla erases boundaries between dance forms and explores what it means to be from the borderlands — both as a geographical place and a state of mind."
Perla Arellano, Austin American Statesman, November 22, 2017
“Ballet Nepantla... puede servir como un ejemplo para animar a que otros niños latinos luchen
por alcanzar sus sueños.”
Kiersten Ehr, SA Live, November 13, 2017
"Andrea and her dancers fuse Contemporary Ballet with Mexican Folklorico to tell traditional stories of the Mexican experience through an exciting, emerging aesthetic.”
Reynaldo Leanos Jr., Texas Standard, September 20, 2017
“Guajardo hopes that every time Nepantla performs, the show will counter unflattering narratives about Mexican and Mexican-American communities. She hopes the beauty of the dance will be like a bridge that connects people who are in this— Nepantla— this “in between” of worlds and spaces.”
Reynaldo Leanos Jr., NBC News, NY, September 15, 2017
"Creating the dance company allowed Guajardo to bring young dancers from the Río Grande Valley to New York City."
Estefanía Hernández, El Diario, September 15, 2017
“La manera en que los bailarines muestran emoción en los estiramientos de manos y los
movimientos altos de pies, hacen que el tradicional “zapateado” luzca más moderno.”
Estefanía Hernández, NY1 Noticias, August 30, 2017
"Su misión, es alejarse de la discriminación hacia Mexicanos-Americanos y revelar cómo Mexico contribuye a la economía, cultura y las artes."