Commissioned in 2014 for Ballet Hispanico, Show.Girl. is a dance theater piece that celebrates and interrogates the dying art of the Cuban- and Vegas-style review and extracts the showgirl from the spectacle to reveal the artistry in the artifice and the pathos behind the sequins and smiles.
In the context of these shows the object is the costume, not the woman wearing it. The female figures are stylized models whose forms reveal the theatrical properties of the costume. Showgirl aims to invite critical reflection on what this style of performance reveals about the construction of femininity and masculinity in contemporary culture, particularly in how it relates to Latinidad, and on the relationship between entertainment and art within contemporary concert dance.
Show.Girl was commissioned by ADF and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. ADF support provided by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation and the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Dance. Arsht Center support provided by Knight Foundation and Funding Arts Network.
“astonishing images in surreal conjunction.”- The Five Point Star, NC
“The lush, pop-referential imagery and discomfiting slide from comic to ominous that is typical Herrera”- Miami Herald
