Henry Torres Blanco Joins Latvia's Celebration of 30 Years of Contemporary Dance

3 hours ago

3 min read

Lux Boreal's artistic director took part in installations and performances in Stāmeriena, Valmiera, Braslavas Kalniņi, and Riga during anniversary events held in June 2026.

Allyson Green y Henry Torres Blanco — Chorepgrapher Allyson Green & Henry Torres Blanco

Mexican choreographer Henry Torres Blanco, artistic director of Lux Boreal, traveled to Latvia to take part in events marking 30 years of contemporary dance in the country. His visit was part of a program of performances, festivals, installations, and gatherings held throughout June 2026 in cities and cultural sites across Latvia.

This history is closely tied to the sustained work of dancer and choreographer Olga Žitluhina, a key figure in the development of contemporary dance in Latvia. Working from Riga and in dialogue with communities in other cities, Žitluhina has advanced dance training, choreographic creation, and the circulation of new work, helping expand the country's performing arts landscape.

Torres Blanco was invited to participate in Heart Beats Light: Sacred Earth Sacred Sky, an initiative led by visual artist Peter Terezakis in partnership with New York choreographer Allyson Green, with special collaboration from musician and composer Alan Stone. The project brought body, light, landscape, and sound together through interventions conceived for each site.

As part of the project, Torres Blanco took part in an installation at Stāmeriena Palace and a performance in Valmiera. He also participated in an outdoor installation at Braslavas Kalniņi, organized at the initiative of Inta Balode, a cultural producer and one of the country's most respected contemporary dance organizers.

The visit renewed a collaboration that began with these artists in 2008. Eighteen years later, the project brought them together again, allowing each participant to approach the exchange through the creative questions and artistic paths developed over the intervening years.

The anniversary also offered a view of how Latvia's dance community has changed over the past three decades. Rooted in a strong classical ballet tradition, the field has expanded to include performance practices that combine physical virtuosity with movement research, site-based work, and visual storytelling. These approaches now coexist within a living dance culture that responds to its time and to the realities carried by its performers.

"This experience confirms that audiences in Latvia and Mexico may be closer than we imagine. Both respond to originality, but above all to the truth that emerges in the body when a work is performed from the artist's immediate reality and the cultural experiences they carry most authentically," said Henry Torres Blanco.

Torres Blanco also contributed to the presentation of STORM, a work by Olga Žitluhina included in Riga's commemorative program. The piece brought together more than 80 dancers and performers across a broad age range, including children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and veteran dancers. The work incorporated a site-specific intervention and lighting design that played a central dramaturgical role. On this occasion, two dogs were also part of the performance, expanding the range of bodies, ages, and lived experiences present in the work.

For Lux Boreal, its artistic director's presence in Latvia continues the company's long-standing commitment to international exchange. Maintaining ties with dance communities elsewhere creates opportunities to compare working processes, recognize shared concerns, and better understand what is being made in Mexico and in the Tijuana-San Diego border region. These encounters open new paths for researching the body and developing movement languages.

About Lux Boreal

Lux Boreal is a contemporary dance company founded in 2002 and based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Its work spans the creation, production, presentation, education, outreach, and touring of performance projects, with dance at the center of its research and a commitment to binational and international exchange.