Oakland Ballet Company presents 'Luna Mexicana'

You are getting a look at a colorful celebration of Mexican culture, family, and tradition through the power of dance. Oakland Ballet Company marking the 10th anniversary of its beloved production, Luna Mexicana, with live music. Folkloric dancing and a moving tribute to loved ones who have passed. This morning, we take you inside the special Dia de los Muertos celebration. And joining us now, Oakland Ballet's Artistic Director, Graham Lustig. Welcome. Thank you for joining us. And Esteban Hernandez, Principal Dancer at San Francisco Ballet. And you are doing the choreography for this on this 10th anniversary. Sure, sure. So. Talk about, this is very special, as a dancer, it must be very fun to do something so different like this. Oh yeah, it's been wonderful to get to sort of express myself in a different way and to be able to work with the wonderful dancers of Oakland Ballet has been just such a gratifying experience. As a choreographer, what is your vision? What did you kind of come in with in your experience and what you wanted to see on stage? Well, I think for the 10 This is the 10th anniversary of Luna Mexicana. I wanted to do something that showcases Mexican traditions and honors also the people that have come before us. And so that was sort of the main focus of my piece for this occasion. And Graham is director of Oakland Ballet. This must be very fun as well. I mean, it's Dia de los Muertos. It's such a special time because it's remembering people. And then it's also the colorful culture and celebrating that in dance. What do you think? What does that bring to the audiences by by celebrating Dia de los Muertos in dance? I believe that dance always has a soul. Whether you're looking at a very entertaining ballet, whether you're looking at Swan Lake, every dancer brings not just their physicality, they bring their personality and their soul. So we're celebrating souls and it's a beautiful thing to be on stage and see these wonderful dancers and have mariachi and ballet folklorico. It's full of life and vivacity. So this is not a sad occasion. It's an occasion that we celebrate those who've gone before. We're not mourning them. They're just celebrating, which is such a lovely sentiment as well. And for people who don't normally maybe go to the ballet or maybe sometimes Swan Lake isn't really for them, right, this is something for everyone because this is more of a party, it seems like. It's a family show. It's very fun. And we have audience members who come completely regaled, just like the guests you had this morning with their best. Sugar skull makeup on and things like that and not only do we perform it at the Paramount for audiences on Friday morning We have 2,600 local students coming to see the production and we've just been in 11 schools So we take it also into the schools and always what I say to them is which I want you to think about somebody You can no longer see Say their name And present a so we always begin even the school shows with this idea of commemorating those who have gone before really honoring and I love that gives you an excuse to dress up and make up and everything to go see the show we have the the information on your screen to let people know about the performances so Friday tomorrow more tomorrow evening and then Sunday there at the Paramount Theater and Esteban as a dancer also. What would you say to people who, because, you know, there's some people, I personally, I love ballet. I have a ballerina in my home, in my family. But some people, maybe to embrace it, what do you say in terms of experiencing it for the first time? Well, I mean, I think dance is universal and it has been a part of our lives always. I think as human beings, we have always danced and I think we've gotten a bit far away from it. Over time and I think events like this really allow the opportunity and the access for people to experience it in A different way and then with a different perspective, so so I would say to not not be afraid It's it's really such a wonderful thing and such a cool thing to to witness people People Putting their hearts into what they're doing doing. It's it's really there's nothing like it And Graham, for me, I think I've seen development of Ballet companies really embracing so many other things, you know, Dracula and very Different things as a director. This must be what does this mean for you to be able to it? Sky's the limit. It seems like what you can bring to ballet You are absolutely right I feel very very blessed that I am able to bring a lot of different things to our audiences So indeed we have a program called Dancing Moons Festival, which is the only showcase of its kind for Asian American composers choreographers and designers And in the spring, we're doing something called Rainbow Dances, which was a response to what was happening in the trans community. So that's a celebration of LGBTQ plus choreographers and artists. So I feel as if, yes, we have a Nutcracker. We're doing it on the 19th and the 20th of December at the Paramount. It's a fantastic show. But we're able to do yet other types of used dance to communicate other messages. And I think that, you know, in Día de los Muertos, in Luna Mecana, there is a message of deep joy. Vivacity, humanity, and the audience just feel collectively this beautiful sense of their own selves and how they feel as a community. And if dance can bring people together like that, then I'm just thrilled. I love it. Okay, introduce your dancers really quick so we can all feel that performance and love. Introduce the dancers for us and we'll watch them. With pleasure. This is L'Ineal, Esteban's new work. It's not been on stage yet, so you're getting a real preview. And we have Alyssa, Alex and Perkele who are going to show a highlight from the opening of the dance. Oh, fantastic. We'll move out of the way.