Performing Arts

After a dullish attempt at a full-length ballet last spring, Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico wisely went back to what it does best: lively dance.

Short is nice, too. Thursday's program at the Majestic Theatre (repeated at the Latino Cultural Center on Friday) zoomed in on the northern part of Mexico. "Viva el Norte" captured a little bit of everything, from Aztec to cowboy culture, with an odd dip into the waltz.

A word of advice: Leave the waltz to Strictly Ballroom.

But add gourds on men's ankles (the Aztec piece) or boots on their feet, and you have a show.

The Aztec dance features two men clad in identical white and red billowy pants, gourds on ankles and in hand, dancing in the crouching manner of hunter and deer.

The energy shoots up in cowboy country. Men in cowboy hats have dashing footwork, executed with clarity and confidence. Legs shoot out like pistons, with thumbs firmly tucked into belts.

Choreographer Marco Raygoza (who is also the new artistic director and a longtime company member) has a knack for developing simple motifs and embellishing them into swiftly changing patterns.

The most fun comes at the end. The company gives its take on Baja California, with women in pencil skirts and men in jeans. They kick up their heels and paw the ground like ponies ready to head to the hills. For good measure, they throw in a saucy salsalike fanny wag.

It would be a stretch to say the company has turned sophisticated, but it seems headed that way.

Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer who covers dance.

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