Anthropology in Motion: Colorful Leyenda Dance Performance in Banning

The following was submitted for publication by the Banning Centennial Committee:

The Leyenda Dance Company, a Riverside-based ballet folklorico group, will present dances from different regions of Mexico on Saturday, March 30 at 7:00 p.m. at the Nicolet Middle School auditorium, 101 E. Nicolet Street, Banning.

The event is part of the year-long Banning Centennial Celebration.

Tickets are $10 per person and are available for sale at these Banning locations: Banning Chamber of Commerce, Banning Community Center, La Casita Mexican Restaurant and Consuelo’s Home Style Mexican Food.  

Proceeds from the event will benefit Carol’s Kitchen, a local non-profit organization that feeds the hungry, and the Leyenda Dance Company.

The Leyenda Dance Company, directed by Gabriela Carbon, specializes in dances from Jalisco, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Puebla, Chiapas, Yucatan and northern Mexico with traditional, color-rich costumes and musical forms.  Each dance is based on academic research in ethnological and anthropological studies conducted through multiple travels through Mexico and interaction with the ethnic groups and master teachers from those areas.

Because of its innovative format with attention to cultural detail and style, the group has earned the nickname “Anthropology in Motion.”

The dance group has been featured in over 30 television programs and several motion pictures. The highly trained dancers have performed in Dubai, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Europe and have received numerous international awards and recognitions.