Hola a todo el mundo!<BR>Hello everybody!<P>My name is Maria Alejandra and I come from the lovely tropical island of Puerto Rico. <BR>I dance ballet and am taking jazz. <BR>Ballet is my pasion!<P>I have to say that I like the site, it really is wonderful. I entered yesterday for the first time and I am coming back. The moderaters are great and they give super helpful advice.<P>I like it here.<P>DAncerPR<BR><p>[This message has been edited by dancerPR (edited May 25, 2001).]

Dancer PR....bienvenidos!! Welcome!! Mucho gusto. Glad you found our site!!! Do tell us more about dance in Puerto Rico!!I have not been to the Caribbean, but was in Honduras, Guatemala and Belize last summer! <BR> You say you study ballet and jazz? Have you ever been to the mainland US? What are your goals in dance? I also saw that you posted in studio---or was it "modern". I'll have to go back and check!!! Thanks for joining us!!

A warm welcome DancerPR!

Hello, DancerPR. Thank-you for joining us!

Hola Dancer PR - it's great to have you with us.<P>I was in Puerto Rico once - not for very long - but it is a beautiful island.<P>Once again...welcome!

First of all I want to thank you all for your heartwarming welcome. <BR>Well, dance in Puerto Rico is preety good. We have two famous companies Andanza and Ballet Concierto. There are a lot of schools here too. There is the Julian Blanco School - the ballet school that belongs to the goverment and is part of the educational system. It combines ballet with academics. <P>I have been to USA a few times. Here in Puerto Rico we don't need a visa or passport to go there since we are a commonwealth of USA; but we are a country very well of it's own. <P>We have 2 dances, native dances if that is the way to call it. They come from our taino, african and spanish roots.they are called Bomba and Plena. I learned how to dance them when I was little but I forgot. <P>Anyway, there are good teachers here and wonderful dancers. We have a lot of academies here. Experimental dance is also getting a lot of atention. <BR>If you ever feel like visiting email me and I'll help. It is really great so you won't be sorry. <P>Summer dance camps here are wonderful too.<P>DancerPR<BR>

Dancer Pr..it's always fascinating to learn about dance in far away places...far away from me, anyway!! I'm in Seattle. Question: do international dance companies tour to Puerto Rico a lot? Are you able to see what comes in? What dance styles do you like to watch, as an audience member.<BR>I knew a dancer from Jamaica...her name is Natalie Rogers. She dances/danced with Garth Fagan and I went to school with her in NYC...great dancer!!! There were some great dancers from Puerto Rico in NYC called "Ballet Hispanico"...have you heard of this company, Dancerpr?<p>[This message has been edited by trina (edited May 27, 2001).]

Well, international dance companies? yes they tour here. Last month a Russian company came, I think they were called Ballet Festival of Moscow. Modern and experimental dance companies come a lot too. Three hispanic companies colaborated in Andanza's last performance , it was calles EXODO. <BR>I am able to see them, advertising is a great thing! <BR>As an audience member I really like, well, I love seeing ballet performances. <BR>You could say I love all types of dance. I think dance is fascinating and I think that if they took it away from me I couldn't possibly survive. <BR>So I can't really answer that. I like all dance styles, but ballet is my favorite. <P>DancerPR<BR>

Hola y bienvenida, DancerPR.<BR>I wonder how many other Spanish speakers we have on the site??<P>I was interested to hear about the dances of PR - I have been learning all forms of Cuban dance and i dance Argentinean tango - but Bomba and Plena....<P>It is something that we lack in Europe - dances that everyone knows and everyone can dance. I assume Puerto Ricans generally have dance as part of their lives - I mean, dancing socially rather than dance on stage?