The Fort Worth Opera announced March 22 a collaboration with Dallas-based Terrance M. Johnson Dance Project for the 2018 Festival production of Astor Piazzolla’s tango opera, María de Buenos Aires.
Since the company was founded in the spring of 2016, the Dance Project has received numerous accolades for its bold performances throughout North Texas, the opera said in a news release.
Featuring a fusion of opera, jazz, tango, and modern dance, the opera’s production of María de Buenos Aires “evokes the raw tango of the streets,” says stage director, choreographer and librettist John de los Santos. “Every dance has a dramatic purpose, evolving from the story.”
The opera stars Argentinian mezzo-soprano Solange Merdinian as the ill-fated María, Mexican American baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco as the balladeer El Payador and three-time Emmy-winning journalist, SuperLatina TV host, and best-selling author Gaby Natale, as the shape-shifting, goblin-like character, El Duende.
The affiliation with the Terrance M. Johnson Dance Project aligns with the opera’s effort to celebrate the multicultural heritage and diversity of Fort Worth, the news release said. The dance group will be joined on stage by a chamber ensemble of musicians from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, opera chorus members and Argentinian bandoneon player Juan Pablo Jofre.
Performances:
April 27, May 5, 2018
Bass Performance Hall
In Spanish with supertitles in English and Spanish
Tickets: $75.
To purchase: (817) 731.0726; Toll free: 1 (877) 396-7372; Online: fwopera.org