Ballet Hispánico in CARMEN.maquia. (Photo by Marius Fiskum)
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
If anyone has a great queso recommendation, please let Omar Rivera know. The dancer is intent on having his fill of cheesy goodness when he makes it back to Dallas this weekend.
Even with a full schedule in a short time, Rivera is intent.
But first, he has a job to do.
Rivera (he/him) comes to Dallas with Ballet Hispánico to perform the the evening length premiere of CARMEN.maquia as part of the TITAS/Dance Unbound 2024-25 season. Performances will be held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24-25, at the Moody Performance Hall.
The Booker T. Washington grad will also return to his high school. This time, he goes to school as the instructor.
“Our schedule is packed while we’re here, but I do get to go back to my alma mater,” he said.
“I’ll get to teach an audition session for the summer intensive class.”
The dancer said he used to dream of performing in the Arts District while he attended Booker T., and now to show today’s students his trajectory is a special moment. He has already fulfilled the dream having performed at the Winspear in 2021 with Ballet Hispánico. Now he’s back and helping students shape their dreams.
“This is definitely a surreal and full circle moment for me. The school gave us access to all these master classes and performances,” Rivera said. “To go back where you came from is something special, and if I can reach just one boy in the audience or the class who feels different or bullied or maybe I look like him — nothing beats that.”
Rivera isn’t just talking about Booker T. but also the stage.
“To come back and perform in front of my mentors and friends and family is a dream because they were a part of this journey,” he said.
Born in Los Angeles, Rivera moved to Dallas at 10 years old. He’d already expressed interest in dance at a young age. When he got to Dallas, he started his dance training and enrolled in the famed arts magnet as a sophomore in 2014.
Fast forward to today and he’s taking the stage as one of the principals in CARMEN.maquia, a Surrealist reimagining of the classic Bizet opera. The show centers on a strong woman who is used to getting what she wants as Rivera describes it.
In short, it sounds like a fabulous telenovela.
All the men want her, and she has this enticing way of maneuvering around society. Then she falls in love with a man who she discovers a surprising attraction to,” he described.
The show is presented mostly in white — the costumes, the settings. Often a fiery show and character, color is often associated with Carmen, but also with Hispanic culture.
“I can’t speak to why it was designed that way, but as you watch it, it’s almost like watching this dream. And Carmen sticks out in her own costume. So in some ways, it feels like you’re in the black-and-white film,” he said.
With three performances in two days and a class to teach, Rivera does have little time to himself, but he’s got his sights set on some queso.
“I’ll have to find a Tex-Mex place for my queso, which shouldn’t be a problem. But then I hope to make it to the Round-Up with some of the cast and get some brunch at Yolk which is right there by everything.
“Just wish me luck!”
For tickets, visit ATTPAC.org.