Artist's Avenue

Dance major Andrea Hernandez-Gonzales is an animated performer, and she's quick on her feet. She's getting ready to dance in this weekend's faculty dance show, and she studies physical therapy so she can one day help injured dancers. Hernandez-Gonzales hails from San Antonio.

Daily Lobo: You're the centerpiece star dancer, usually?

Andrea Hernandez-Gonzales: No, I'm just there to learn more. It's fun. I enjoy it.

DL: How did you get into dancing?

AH: I've been dancing since I could walk, pretty much. My mom put me in flamenco and ballet folklorico.

DL: What's the difference between that and regular ballet?

AH: Ballet folklorico - it's a cultural dance from Mexico. Different states have different styles of it. It kind of derives from the indigenous, along with the Spanish, influence. It has footwork just like flamenco, but it's a lot more up. I've heard that they developed these dances because they wanted to make fun of the Spanish. The Spanish came in and took over basically. You know, the Aztecs and indigenous tribes and Mayans and the Spanish came and took over. So that's what I heard, that they're supposed to be making fun of the Spanish. It's up and kind of flirty and doing all these steps, but flamenco's very intense. The intention's straight-forward - it's either happy, or it's really sad and depressing. Folklorico - I don't think I've ever seen a folklorico piece that's sad or mournful. It reminds me a lot of swing in some way.

DL: While there is a lot of "anything goes" with a lot of art, I can't always tell if a certain dance is good or bad.

AH: There are different aspects that make a good dance or a good dancer. I mean, training has a lot to do with it if you want to captivate your audience with some amazing things. That's one thing about dance, is what captivates people. Like, "I can't do that. How do they do that? That's amazing." It kind of sucks them into the art or whatever.

DL: A good dancer can make it look effortless.

AH: Exactly . I think someone who can bring in their audience and either bring them to tears or make them have a smile on their face completely after the show, and they're just like, "Wow, that was a totally new experience for me" .It's hard to explain.

DL: So, you've got the faculty show coming up.

AH: I'm in the two pieces in the first half. They're actually back-to-back. I'm doing a jazz piece. I've been working with Jacqueline Garcia. She's a part-time instructor here teaching jazz. I worked with her before dancing with Blythe Eden (of the Blythe Eden Dance Company). What I love about Blythe's choreography, as a modern choreographer, it's more contemporary and (there are) lots of jumps and turns, and I like to jump and turn. So, it's not just rolling around on the floor, you know?

DL: What's up with that, anyway? The rolling around on the floor?

AH: I really don't understand it.

DL: You don't? That's not a dance staple that everyone adheres to? I always feel when the dancer goes down on the floor, it stops the dance almost. Should I appreciate the floor dance parts?

AH: Everybody has their own affinities, whether or not their relationship with the floor is necessary, and the time spent on it.

DL: That sounds like something dancers probably talk about - their relationships to the floor.

AH: Yeah, in most dances, they always tell you not to look at the floor - it's always going to be there. In ballet, you never want to look down at the floor.

DL: Does that break the spell, if you look at the floor?

AH: You could say that, yeah. It breaks the spell; it breaks that connection with the audience. They also see you, when you look down, somebody up on the balcony, they'll just see your eyelids, so it looks like you're closing your eyes. They always told us to look out toward the audience but above their heads, so if you see somebody's face, you don't get all -

DL: Right, because that could throw you off.

AH: Yeah, especially if you recognize them. It's like, "Augh! That person's in the audience."

DL: What do you think about the upcoming faculty show?

AH: I think this year is going to be a pretty amazing show. We have a new faculty member. His name's Vladimir Londe-Reche. He's -

DL: Russian?

AH: No, he is actually Brazilian. He says it differently. But he has some amazing choreography happening, which I'm really excited about. He's teaching the Ballet II and the Ballet III classes this semester. He's Russian-trained, so it's a lot more jumps, a lot more turns, not so much about being the pretty, perfect ballerina.

DL: So is that just a French thing, an American thing? Are the Russians crazier with their dancing?

AH: Russians are hard-core ballet - like, crazy turns and leaps, and they make up their own types of movements.

DL: That sounds more exciting.

AH: It's really exciting to watch. It's hard though. I mean, just going from the different training that I've had. He does stuff I've never done before. I've been dancing ballet since I was four. I stopped dancing for a year, and then I went back into it, so I had a consistency in movements and exercises and all the sudden it was like, "Whoa! This is different."

DL: It's good for you.

AH: It's good. Change is always good for you. It keeps you on your toes. Literally.