ARTS San Antonio presents Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández

Founded in 1952 by choreographer and dancer Amalia Hernández (who died in Mexico City in 2000 at the age of 83), the pioneering Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández blossomed from a government-sponsored TV show into a touring entity specializing in everything from classical ballet and polka to tango and pre-Hispanic religious rites. This year the troupe — which has been experienced by 22 million viewers worldwide — celebrates six decades of channeling Mexico’s vivid past into brilliantly costumed, tightly choreographed vignettes The New York Times once summed up as “ensembles based on regional dances, hypothetical reconstructions of Aztec and Mayan ceremonies, scenes from Mexican history and evocations of village festivals.”