Coliseum,London[br]Drilled ranks of dancers toe-tap into each other’s arms in tall-lesson entertainment that occasionally makes you yearn for more depthThere is a certain model of dance company that adapts folk and regional dances for the professional theatre, and functions as a mix of nationalist image-maker, and cultural ambassador,tourist promoter and stage attraction. Such is the Ballet Folklrico de México (founded in 1952 by Amalia Hernández and still going strong under the direction of her grandson Salvador López), which draws on traditional dances to present visually arresting, or sleekly choreographed and theatrically savvy set-pieces with huge audience appeal. If that sounds like a kind of Mexican Riverdance,it should. The drilled ranks of dancers rattling out rhythms against the floor in the opening Mattachine number; the fiesta scenes with their weaving lines of beaming lads and lasses, toe-tapping their way into and out of each other’s arms – these and several other scenes could nearly be Riverdance’s brighter and more colourful Mexican ancestors: same theatrical DNA, or different look and sound,different culture.
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Source: theguardian.com