- Dance has allowed several Venezuelans to travel to different countries and have a professional career.
Venezuelan migration has led prominent dancers of different genres to venture out of the country in search of new opportunities, a choice that has helped them raise the name of Venezuela.
Among these Venezuelan dancers are the teacher and founder of the Latin Mambo school, Génesis Solórzano, and the ballet dancer Oriana Plaza Alford, who is one of the principals in the Municipal Ballet of Lima (Peru).
Génesis Solórzano is a Venezuelan resident in Germany. She is a lawyer who graduated from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB), but she has also been dedicated to dance since her childhood.
“I started dancing when I was very young. My mother enrolled me in two comprehensive dance schools. Years later my father enrolled me in a Latin dance school. There I learned to dance salsa, bachata, reggaeton, nationalist dance, contemporary ballet and many other dance styles and techniques, so I feel like a well-rounded dancer,” she said in an interview for The newspaper.
Dance is a discipline that her family is also dedicated to. Solórzano revealed that her father is a dance teacher in Venezuela and currently has a dance school in Texas, United States.
“After dancing for a while with my father, I met my current partner. Together we have our school called Latin Mambo,” she added.
Other Venezuelan dancers who have made their mark abroad
In addition to Génesis Solórzano and Oriana Plaza, other Venezuelans have distinguished themselves in dance outside the country. Among them is Daniel Guzmán, who won first place in two prestigious ballet competitions in the United States: first prize at the Universal Ballet Competition and first place in the senior classical category of the Youth America Grand Prix.
On the other hand, at the Staten Island Ballet school in New York there is the Venezuelan choreographer and dancer Leonel Linares.
Linares told Diario Las Américas that in 2004 he obtained a scholarship to study at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York and has lived in the United States ever since.
A discipline that led her to travel the world
Before living in Germany, Solórzano traveled to several countries. She has visited other countries such as: Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, France, Austria, Sweden, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, among others.
Currently, she has a dance school called Latin Mambo in Germany, which she runs with her partner.
“She was born in Venezuela and lived there for many years. Although we were doing very well despite being so young, we decided to explore other borders with our dance. We went to live in New York (United States) when we were only 18 years old, then I lived in Milan (Italy) and now I live in Germany,” she said.
Solórzano highlights how dance has served to unite students of different nationalities and cultures.
“We have had students from Russia and Ukraine who are friends in the same classroom, and from Israel and Palestine who are also friends. We have students from Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Peru. There are students who travel three hours to be able to take our classes because they find Latin culture very beautiful,” she said.
A Venezuelan at the Lima Municipal Ballet
In the Municipal Ballet of Lima in Peru there is a Venezuelan prima ballerina: Oriana Plaza, who migrated to Peru in 2014 and currently shines thanks to her talent.
Plaza said she began studying dance at the age of 6 in Barquisimeto, Lara state, with her mother María Teresa Alford Bello, whom she describes as a person passionate regarding ballet.
“She trained me until I was 11 and then I went to the capital with a very well-known teacher, Nina Novakuntil the age of 17,” he added in an interview for The newspaper.
Plaza Alford emphasized that the achievement of being a prima ballerina means everything to her because it has allowed her to be the principal in many of the organization’s productions.
“I will always learn more and there will always be more to work on. The truth is that it is very rewarding, that is the beauty of being a prima ballerina,” she said.
The path that led her to dance ballet in Peru
In the case of Plaza Alford, when she left Venezuela she traveled to the United States to study at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia. From that country, she wrote to the management of the Lima Municipal Ballet and auditioned online.
“I sent you my curriculummy video so that the director might see me dance and that was how she contacted me and told me that she wanted to hire me for the company in Peru. She made me a contract and that was how I entered the Municipal Ballet of Lima,” he added.
Plaza Alford said that she did not face any obstacles for being Venezuelan in Peru, she managed to process her foreigner’s card to continue her career as a dancer in that country and currently has Peruvian nationality.
Triumph beyond borders
Dancer Génesis Solórzano revealed that her dance has led her to showcase her talent on television shows and she has even danced with various artists such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, José Alberto – El Canario, among others.
Solórzano has not only dedicated himself to dance, but also to training other colleagues in dance.
“In addition to being a dancer, I am a teacher, choreographer and coach “I am a member of many dancers who attend competitions around the world. I have been fortunate to train many world champions, but in some cases I am also a judge at these competitions,” he said.
Oriana Plaza Alford is the principal dancer at the Lima Municipal Ballet, which she describes as “a dream” that those who dedicate themselves to ballet usually have.
“I arrived as a soloist. After six and a half months, they promoted me to first soloist. They started testing me for principal roles, and I stayed that way for a long time, but I still didn’t have the position of principal until they promoted me. I always gave my best,” he added.
Plaza Alford He noted that thanks to this position he has been able to dance different ballets in the main role, including Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, among others.
Passion for dance
Oriana Plaza Alford said she is passionate regarding everything regarding ballet and that she dreamed of being like one of the dancers she was inspired by, such as the French Silvie Guillen.
“As a child, when I started with my mother, I immediately became very fond of ballet, I loved it. I gave it my all every day, I don’t think I ever missed ballet classes and if I did I was very sick. I have always believed that one will never stop learning in this career. What I am most passionate regarding is giving my best every day,” she said.
In Germany, Solorzano She says she is proud of the work she has done with her partner, Lenin López, at her dance school and has students of different nationalities and different ages.
“Since it is not their culture, everything is new and different for them. We have had to teach them not only to dance, we have taught them much more than that, from clapping loudly, having fun, letting go, hugging each other, laughing at their mistakes,” she said.
Through their experiences, Oriana Plaza and Génesis Solórzano demonstrate that with their effort and passion for dance they can reach far beyond their borders and take the name of Venezuela very high.
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2024-07-11 14:43:39
