Contreras, Gloria (1934–)

Mexican choreographer Gloria Contreras (María del Carmen Gloria Contreras y Roeniger), has created more than 180 original works since beginning her dancing career at the School of American Ballet in New York City. In 1970 she founded a choreography workshop, Taller Coreográfico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, in Mexico City and served as the artistic director from its inception. Each year the workshop offers dance instruction to more than twelve hundred students.

Contreras studied with noted dancers and choreographers, including George Balanchine, Pierre Vladimiroff, Felia Doubrovska, Anatole Oboukhoff, and Muriel Stuart. Her ballets have been performed by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Oakland Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet, as well as by companies in Russia, Mexico, and several other Latin American countries. In 1995 she won the Premio Universidad Nacional in the area of Artistic Creation, and was also given the Guillermina Bravo Award by the International Festival of Contemporary Dance. In addition to her career in dance, she has appeared in Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowski's 1989 film Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) and has edited nineteen books on ballet and Latin American culture.

See alsoJodorowski, Alejandro; Music: Popular Music and Dance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Contreras, Gloria. Latin American Culture Studies: Information and Materials for Teaching about Latin America. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 1987.

Contreras, Gloria. Diario de una bailarina. Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1997.

Horosko, Marian. "Balanchine's Guide to a Young Choreographer: Excerpts from Diary of Choreographer Gloria Contreras about Conversations with Choreographer George Balanchine." Dance Magazine (December 1996): 86-87.

Manzanos, Rosario, and Armando Ponce. "Gloria Contreras y la UNAM: De poder a poder." Proceso (September 2000): 70.

                                      Stacy Lutsch