Ballet Folklorico de Mexico presents colorful explosion of dance

There was no energy shortage on stage Sunday at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts as Ballet Folklorico de Mexico breezed through nearly a dozen vigorous, elaborate dances scarcely seeming to take a deep breath. Variety, skill and the constant fast pace of the approximately two dozen dancers, often accompanied by mariachi or an eight-piece band, made for a bright, lively evening.

The dance company, founded by Amalia Hernandez more than 50 years ago, represents the country around the world, performing in more than 60 nations and 300 cities. Her traditional choreography is still used.

Costumes in brilliant colors and intricate designs complement the dances, with an explosion of color and style in nearly every piece. The mariachis and the band added enthusiasm while sticking to their roots, with lively music and singing while in typical garb, including sombreros and serapes.

Costume changes were dizzying: a nod to the Aztecs, with slim gowns and pants and cumbersome headdresses was followed in moments with a virtual Folies Bergere, full dresses in jewel tones with skirts and petticoats tossed this way and that in a routine that included skillful kicks and then, suddenly, resembled wild flamenco.

A few more minutes and the company was back on stage in a dance inspired by the 1910 Mexican revolution, with the women in jewel-tone skirts and shirts accessorized by wooden guns and bandoliers. (There were appreciative shouts and whistles from the crowd as the dancers showed they could move and move their weapons as well.)

Costumes gave way to more elaborate costumes so often that it seemed there must be dozens of dressers backstage. Again and again, it took a moment to take in the grand spectacle, and, just as quickly, it changed.

After intermission, the troupe returned with dances with stories, including a wedding party gone awry and an involving fiesta.

One surprise was a tribute to modern dance, as women suddenly appeared in leotards and bare feet, carrying larger than life fishes and other sea life around the stage while male dancers in white swimsuits surrounded them with a net. It seemed out of place but was well done and didn't last long.

The most engrossing dance of the evening began with a jeans-clad cowboy with a lasso, performing tricks on his own, then with a partner while both were inside the lasso. This gave way to a grand scene with the women in full-length frothy white gowns, so full that the dancers could pull the sides up next to their heads and still have yards of fabric all around their feet. Men, also in white, accessorized with cowboy hats, did the most nimble and vigorous dances of the evening: think Irish step dances but faster. And the lasso was in the air for so long that the dancer had to change arms at least once.

Some figures and dancers raced down steps and suddenly filled the aisles, clicking noisemakers, dancing, smiling, executing turns, tossing skirts. Audience members were caught up in it all, the sounds of fabric snapping less than an inch from ears. It was total immersion in the grand, exultant dance, and no one seemed to mind a bit.