Releases | New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

Holiday Events and Performances at the National Hispanic Cultural Center

November 18th, 2019

(Albuquerque, New Mexico) – Capture a bit of holiday magic this season at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, where a full roster of celebratory events is planned in December.

 

HAH! Happy Arte Hour Thu. Dec. 5 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Domenici Education Building On the first Thursday of the month, NHCC invites adults for artistic fun in a relaxed social setting, which includes snacks, refreshments and beer & wine for sale from Pop Fizz. This is a great opportunity for friends to hang out, a unique date night option, or a place to come solo and connect with fellow art enthusiasts. Please pre-register using the link HERE (so we know how many materials to prepare) For more information please call or email Elena Baca at (505) 246-2261 or ElenaD.Baca@state.nm.us Free, $5 donations are encouraged to support the artists & purchase supplies. 

 

¡Vamos al Museo! Sat. Dec. 7 10:30 a.m. - Noon. Domenici Education Building A great morning of art-making for children of all ages and families of all sizes. A visit to the museum is included in this artist-led workshop. We will meet in the Creative Classroom in the Pete V. Domenici Building. Please pre-register HERE (so we know how many materials to prepare) For more information please call or email Elena Baca at 505-246-2261 or ElenaD.Baca@state.nm.us Free, $5 donations are encouraged to support the artists & purchase supplies.

 

Baila! Baila! and the NHCC Present Christmas in New Mexico® 2019 Sat. & Sun., Dec. 7 & 8  2 p.m. Saturday & Sunday 7 p.m. Saturday Albuquerque Journal Theatre Baila! Baila!’s annual holiday show is a whirlwind extravaganza, taking audiences on a journey through the sights and sounds of Christmas in New Mexico. Music, song, and dance with the traditional Southwestern flair that has been cultivated in our state over the generations, as well as unique segments saluting Christmas traditions from around the world, will delight theatre-goers of all ages. In 2019, Baila! Baila! celebrates their 30th year in spectacular fashion. Christmas in New Mexico features a large multigenerational cast including dancers as young as six, as well as Baila! Baila! professional company dancers. Special guest performances include Mariachi Tapatio from El Paso, Texas, and an appearance by company founder Israela Garcia. $22, $27, $32 w/ $2 discounts for students, seniors and NHCC members. To purchase tickets: Tickets: Baila! Baila! and the NHCC Present Christmas in New Mexico® 2019. 

 

¡ILUMINARTE! 2019 Sun. Dec. 8 5 - 8 p.m. National Hispanic Cultural Center/Paseo del Bosque Trail/CABQ BioPark and Tingley Beach ¡ILUMINARTE! is a winter holiday celebration inspired by luminarias and farolitos—a New Mexico tradition.¡ILUMINARTE!  is a one-of-a kind creative partnership among the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the City of Albuquerque, Story Riders, Artful Life, Circo Latino, AirDance New Mexico and the Albuquerque Poet Laureate Program. This Sunday evening event includes storytelling, an illuminated bike parade along the Paseo del Bosque Trail, and performances by Story Riders – a bilingual after-school and bike-riding program for elementary school students—with Circo Latino, AirDance New Mexico and Albuquerque Poet Laureate Michelle Otero. The event is free and open to the general public. To participate in the Magical Light and Bike Parade, register here: https://nhccnm.wufoo.com/forms/iluminarte-2019-parade-registration-form Schedule: * 3:30 p.m. NHCC Plaza.  CABQ Esperanza, FREE bike clinic and valet. Get your bikes checked and ready for the parade. This is a great time to light yourself and your bike up, before the parade begins. * 4:30 p.m. Performance/NHCC Plaza, AirDance New Mexico performance: luminarias cast flickering light that dances across the wintery darkness, promoting warmth, guidance and community.  AirDance explores these themes through the lens of aerial dance. Free, no tickets required. * 5 p.m. Illuminated Bike Parade. The ¡ILUMINARTE! cyclists, led by Circo Latino and Story Rider students from Dolores Gonzales, Reginald Chavez and Valle Vista Elementary Schools, and the general public proceed on illuminated bikes from NHCC Plaza to the luminaria-lit Paseo del Bosque Trail. Cyclists ride to the rear entrance to the BioPark “River of Lights.” If you plan to ride in the parade, make sure you register.  The parade is free and open to the public. * 5:30 p.m. Cyclists park their bikes with a free valet and then can wander the “River of Lights” during Magic Hour. Be sure you buy a ticket for entrance to the Botanical Gardens/ROL ahead of time. * 6 p.m. Performance/ABQ BioPark-River of Lights. Circo Latino performs for the opening of River of Lights. * 6:30 p.m. (or so) Illuminated Bike Parade returns to Bosque Trail and goes south to Tingley Beach. * 6:15 p.m. Parade continues from the BioPark to Tingley Beach. * 6:30 p.m. Poetry Reading at Tingley Beach. ABQ Poet Laureate Michelle Otero with Story Riders from Valle Vista Elementary School.  Free and open to the public. * 7 p.m. Illuminated Bike Parade continues back to NHCC and finishes in the luminaria-lit plaza. * 7:15 p.m. NHCC Plaza or History/Literary Arts Building. Hot chocolate, biscochitos. Free bike valet.

 

Los Pastores de Belén Sun. Dec. 15 3 p.m. Wells Fargo Auditorium Los Pastores, the New Mexican Shepherds Play, will be presented Dec.15 at 3 p.m. The play is free and open to the general public! This play, brought to New Mexico in 17th century from Spain, follows the adventures, antics and battles of shepherds, angels and devils. On their journey to Bethlehem to take their presents, the shepherds are waylaid by Demonio. The audience is amused by the mischief of Bartolo, the lazy shepherd, and the rhetorical prowess and swordplay of San Miguel. Before it was revived in 1973, when a manuscript was discovered in a home in Las Nutrias, the last time that Los Pastores had been performed in this area was in 1929. Filomena Baca and a group of parishioners of Nuestra Señora de Belén have been performing the play ever since. (taken from Enrique Lamadrid’s “Reflections on Los Pastores“) A discussion and Q&A session before the performance will be led by Filomena Baca and Dante Berry, one of the actors in the play, which has been performed by members of his family for generations.

 

Festival Ballet Albuquerque Presents The Nutcracker in the Land of Enchantment Fri. Sat. Sun. Dec. 20 – 22 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday & Sunday 2 p.m. Saturday & Sunday Albuquerque Journal Theatre Festival Ballet Albuquerque partners with the National Hispanic Cultural Center to present an original production, The Nutcracker in the Land of Enchantment, with choreography by Patricia Dickinson Wells. The beloved holiday classic is transported to territorial New Mexico in the late 1800s, with added elements of the state’s heritage and traditions including Spanish dancers, southwestern snakes, sheep and shepherdesses, a lively fandango, a storyteller doll with children, and lavish western Victorian-era costumes. Now in its seventh year at the NHCC, the production showcases New Mexico heritage and traditions while maintaining the classical grace and family appeal of its origins.  A live orchestra performs under the baton of Maestro Guillermo Figueroa, former music director of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and an internationally renowned conductor and violinist who was a 2012 Latin Grammy nominee. $14, $20, $29, $39, $49 w/ $2 discount for seniors, children 12 and younger, and NHCC members Thank you to our Performing Arts Season Sponsors Heritage Hotels and Resorts, the Albuquerque Journal and Southwest Airlines! Buy Tickets: Tickets: Festival Ballet Albuquerque presents: The Nutcracker in the Land of Enchantment. “Travel the Hispanic World on New Year’s Eve” Tues. Dec. 31 Noon – 2 p.m. History and Literary Arts Building Free! Families welcome Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the National Hispanic Cultural Center by touring 12 stations with interactive activities.  Each station celebrates New Year’s Eve with a different tradition from a different country. In Brazil, eat seven raisins. In Mexico, pocket a handful of lentils. In Spain, eat 12 grapes and make 12 wishes. Tear up your 2019 calendars in Uruguay. In Columbia, create a little suitcase to celebrate adventures to come. Many more! Visitors can also create a zine reflecting on the past and looking to the 2020 future.  Kids and families welcome.

 

For more information, contact cassandra.osterloh@state.nm.us; (505) 383-4708.

 

About the National Hispanic Cultural Center:   The National Hispanic Cultural Center is dedicated to the preservation, promotion and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts and humanities, and is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.  The National Hispanic Cultural Center is located at 1701 Fourth Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico. General admission tickets can be purchased in advance from the National Hispanic Center box office, 505-724-4771 or the NHCC website, www.nhccnm.org.

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36-NHCC-Baila Baila Christmas in NM 2019

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