Ballet Hispánico in CARMEN.maquia. (Photo by Marius Fiskum)
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
If anyone has a great queso recommendation, please let Omar Rivera know. The dancer is intent on having his fill of cheesy goodness when he makes it back to Dallas this weekend.
Even with a full schedule in a short time, Rivera is intent.
But first, he has a job to do.
Rivera (he/him) comes to Dallas with Ballet Hispánico to perform the the evening length premiere of CARMEN.maquia as part of the TITAS/Dance Unbound 2024-25 season. Performances will be held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24-25, at the Moody Performance Hall.
The Booker T. Washington grad will also return to his high school. This time, he goes to school as the instructor.
“Our schedule is packed while we’re here, but I do get to go back to my alma mater,” he said.
“I’ll get to teach an audition session for the summer intensive class.”
The dancer said he used to dream of performing in the Arts District while he attended Booker T., and now to show today’s students his trajectory is a special moment. He has already fulfilled the dream having performed at the Winspear in 2021 with Ballet Hispánico. Now he’s back and helping students shape their dreams.
“This is definitely a surreal and full circle moment for me. The school gave us access to all these master classes and performances,” Rivera said. “To go back where you came from is something special, and if I can reach just one boy in the audience or the class who feels different or bullied or maybe I look like him — nothing beats that.”
Rivera isn’t just talking about Booker T. but also the stage.
“To come back and perform in front of my mentors and friends and family is a dream because they were a part of this journey,” he said.
Born in Los Angeles, Rivera moved to Dallas at 10 years old. He’d already expressed interest in dance at a young age. When he got to Dallas, he started his dance training and enrolled in the famed arts magnet as a sophomore in
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Rich Lopez