The Metropolitan Museum of Art Presents “Buscando a Juan”

From July 13 to 15, the Metropolitan Museum of Art presented Buscando a Juan (“Looking for Juan”). Ballet Hispánico Artistic Director and CEO Eduardo Vilaro’s choreography responded to ideas from the exhibit Juan de Pareja: Afro-Hispanic Painter. The performance featured dancers from Ballet Hispánico and advocated for social changes.

The performance explored diasporas through an emphasis on sensuality and movement. It considered the assumptions made when people of color enter traditionally white spaces. Costumes and dance steps underscored this focus.

First, a man gracefully walked to a long table. He sat on top of it and wore a colorful shirt. His brown pants and shoes created a striking contrast. To his left, six dancers displayed nature-like gestures. 

They rotated their hips, which might remind viewers of plants in the wind. They extended their arms and shifted their feet to demi-pointe. Perhaps that depicted a predatorial animal. Quickly, the dancers arched their backs and then raised their left legs. It could reflect on graceful animals, like cheetahs and swans. Soon after, the dancers kneeled on the ground.

They moved three steps forward. Next, they slapped their knees and arched their backs. They curved and extended their arms to the ground. Perhaps this represents an elephant’s clumsy movements. Each dancer utilized a different movement.

A woman in a teal shirt spun with her left foot in the air. Behind her, a woman in purple leaned her hips to the left. Then she lunged forward with her left knee. Such movements represent other organisms in nature. The dancers walked in a circle and looked at each other.

They bounced into the pavilion’s center. Their bent legs and dangling arms reflected the apes’ physiques. In stunning contrast, the man sat still on the table. Meanwhile, the dancers extended one bent leg into the air. They pressed their palms together to mimic beaks. With arabesques, they spun to their positions around the fountain. 

The dancer in the purple shirt extended her arms to the side. She spread her bent legs as well. She bounced on her feet and put her arms behind her back. Next, she rotated her left leg from a front attitude to a back arabesque. Such quick movements reflected nature’s vibrancy. Soon, many dancers noticed the man on the table.

They gracefully ran to him and stood in a group. Their positions showed that their characters thought alike. The man still did not move. Perhaps this showed ostracization towards him. Two dancers stayed near the fountain. 

They wore purple shirts and bounced on bent legs. Soon, they raised their hands in a triangular shape to look like beaks. They crossed one foot over the other. Maybe they imitated birds with long legs. Suddenly, a man in a maroon shirt ran toward the audience.

He knelt on his left leg and straightened the right one. He jumped up and brushed his right foot against the tiled floor. One hand grazed his chin while his left arm extended into the courtyard. He looked towards a large palm tree in the space’s back. He leaned his head and arms behind him, as though he were lamenting. Next, the dancers recreated their circle at the fountain.

A woman in a purple shirt extended her arms and completed a pirouette. The dancers did not move for a few seconds. This pause made the routine more dramatic. Next, the performers pivoted and extended their arms sideways. They brushed their feet diagonally across the floor and moved toward the audience. Each dancer went to a different side of the court.

At their respective corners, the performers displayed various steps. They did not move synchronously at this time. Their different paces suggested unique imitations of organisms. The individuality made the routines more personal to audience members. Eventually, the dancers returned to the fountain at the court’s center.

They faced the side and crossed their legs. They swung their arms wildly. Then, they completed synchronous pirouettes. Each performer put their arms behind their back and knelt on the floor. 

They sprang up and bent their arms behind their backs. They curved their legs again and acted like they carried heavy loads. Each dancer noticed the man on the table.

The group by the fountain kneeled on the tile. A man in a black shirt walked gracefully to the table. He manually moved the other man’s head and body. Perhaps his character viewed the other man as an inanimate object. The dancers by the fountain elegantly walked to the table. 

They approached the man one after the other. One took away a chair. The others ripped off parts of his shirt. Soon, the man appeared shirtless. Maybe this represented the other characters’ exploitations of him. With these fragments, the dancers exited the stage. 

Finally, the man stood up. He boldly walked to the courtyards’ back. The man in a black shirt brought over a chair. The shirtless man sat down again. The man in the black shirt manipulated his arms. This time, the shirtless man fought back.

Independently, he extended his arms. The man in the shirt pirouetted in attitude across the chair’s back. Again, he moved the shirtless man’s arms. In response, the shirtless man dropped his arms. The man in the shirt moved to the chair’s back and calculated his next move.

He reached for the shirtless man’s arms. The man quickly raised his arms in the air. The man with the shirt attempted to move the other man’s shoulders. The shirtless man displayed opposition by moving first. Soon, he picked up the man with the shirt and slowly rotated him in the air. The shirtless man interacted with a woman as well.

She wore a white top and a blue skirt. She sat on his back as he walked across the court. Subsequently, she extended her right leg over his head and gracefully stood. The shirtless man rose too and picked her up. He slowly twirled her and then put her down. The two performed a routine together.

Gently, she fell into the man’s arms. After lingering for a second, she pirouetted and curtsied to him. She fell back into his arms again. Then, he flipped her in the air. She landed on her feet and extended her right leg into an arabesque. The man studied the curvature of her hip. This represented delicate intimacy. The performance occurred in a gorgeous room.

The Metropolitian Musuem of Art presented the event in the Robert Lehman Wing at the court level. The audience watched the dancers from all sides of the pavilion. Some sat on breathtaking stone benches against the walls. Others gathered behind velvet ropes. The show had a wonderful production team.

Osvaldo Golijov arranged the music from La Pasión segun San Marcos. The event incorporated skilled performers.

The dancers from Ballet Hispánico included Amanda del Valle, Antonio Cangiano, Dylan Dias McIntyre, Fatima Andere, Gabrielle Sprauve, and Omar Rivéra. The American Guild of Musical Artists made the performers’ appearances possible.

The Adrienne Arsht Fund for Resilience through Art and Arnhold Fund for Dance Innovation at The Met supported this event. MetLiveArts commissioned the performance.