By Alexa Lima
Life can open doors in strange ways. Tijuana teenager Pablo Francisco Ruvacaba Tovar got his big break when an unfortunate dancer was hit by a car.
Tovar stepped into a Ballet Camara de la Frontera production of “The Nutcracker” and his life was never the same. After earning degrees from Julliard and NYU, a celebrated 20-year career as a professional dancer, Tovar returned to Southwestern College this spring to collaborate with his former professor Mary Jo Horvath on a stunning presentation of “The Winged.”
Dance helped young Tovar spread his wings and fly. He danced with other Tijuana children in elementary and high school, and was admitted to ballet training at Casa de la Cultura Tijuana in September 1989 when he had his fateful encounter with Tchaikovsky and the holiday perennial “The Nutcracker.”
Rave reviews followed, but so did a bad injury that nearly derailed his blossoming career. He had surgery for a hernia and needed months of recovery time. Discouraged, he did not apply for any colleges or universities after high school. As he healed and started to inch his way back toward the stage he was advised that Southwestern College on the other side of la frontera might be a good place to start.
Tovar clicked right away with Horvath, who during her recently-concluded 33-year career at SC became a dance legend in the region. She spotted his talent immediately.
“Pablo was always very creative even in his early days,” she said. “He was gifted when it came to dance.”
Tovar said he crossed la linea daily to take as many dance classes as he could from Horvath and her team. Besides ballet, he studied modern dance and jazz. Horvath said he excelled in every style.
On the well-worn hardwood of Southwestern, Tovar once again found wind beneath his wings. He decided to pursue dance as a career. He also knew it was a hard choice that was uber-competitive with limited opportunities, so he aimed high when applying to universities.
“I was convinced that the Boston Conservatory was the only great dance school in America,” he said. “I figured (nearby) Harvard is where brainy people go. It made sense to me that the only dance school in the United States is (in Boston).”
Not so fast said Horvath and her staff. Tovar broadened his applications to include NYU and The Julliard School, and was invited to audition for both revered dance programs. He received acceptance to both, but decided to go to Julliard, a world leader in performance arts education, with an acceptance rate of 7.3 percent.
“Looking at the two schools, I realized I had much to learn,” he said. “NYU has an amazing program, but I needed a place that would teach me (fundamentals) and tradition.”
Tovar earned a Bachelors in Fine Arts at Julliard and a Masters in Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. In 1996, he joined the Limon Dance Company were performed his first solo, “Pegasus,” from “The Winged.” He became a lead dance for the Limon Company and danced the featured role of the Moor in “The Moor’s Pavane.”
After 20 years with the company he retired in 2016. Like other athletes, dance careers are typically short. Two decades as a performer is on the outer edge of longevity.
His body said it was done dancing as a performer, but his spirit said his career must continue. He became a teacher of Limon technique as an internationally licensed repetiteur.
Horvath and the SC dance program lured Tovar back to Chula Vista as a guest artist for the spring dance concert “A World of Magical Dance.” He directed an adaptation of “The Winged,” an original contemporary piece originally choreographed by Jose Limon. Tovar choreographed 12 dancers in four sections: “Dawn Chorus” performed by the entire group, “Duel” a male duet, “Feast of Harpies” a female quintet and “Circular Flight” performed by the entire group.
Limon’s original inspiration was to impart through dance what it is like to fly.
“I think Jose created ‘The Winged’ to show us that we are free to soar as high as possible,” said Tovar. “He knew that humanity has always been fascinated by flight and wanted to give people that sensation through his choreography. People have always aspired to be free and we find freedom in flight.”
Limon and his collaborators developed the piece to be flexible and to empower performers. He gave his company dancers the artistic liberty to be free and expressive. Composer John Magnus based the tempo on the rhythm of the dancers’ breath rather than traditional time signatures.
Whereas most dances are developed after the composition, “The Winged” was created for dancers.
Southwestern’s dance students turned in stunning performances and grew under Tovar’s tutelage. He was a demanding, but kindly and inspiring choreographer, and said the dance students were a pleasure to work with because they were curious and willing to take chances.
“When you let go of the idea of being pretty,” he said, “you open yourself up to the possibility of being beautiful.”
Photos Courtesy of Pablo Tovar
