Project Description
In 1997 Ballet Arizona in Phoenix mounted Day of the Dead, an original full-length story ballet about the conflict between a young Mexican-American girl who struggles to retain Mexican traditions in her family while her parents seek to assimilate and abandon those traditions. Artistic director Michael Uthoff was quick to maintain that the ballet was not written as a cultural study or political statement, but rather to create a new ballet that would attract families and bring together dance, music, and theater on the scale of the family favorite The Nutcracker.

Civic Engagement/Dialogue Activities
The Ballet and its partner, the University of Arizona, worked to relate the performance to community and political issues such as immigration, Chicano culture, and English-only policy debates. An extensive community involvement program was developed, including bilingual lecture/demonstrations and seminars at the University and in community settings.

Information Sources
Program and publicity materials, Ballet Arizona.