Tag Archives: carnaval

A New Carnaval Celebration at the NHCC and a New Album from Frank Leto

Carnaval masters Pilar and Frank Leto

On February 9 and 10 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC), Frank and Pilar Leto will present “Carnaval 2024: Comunidade,” their 19th almost-annual celebration of Carnaval, which features vibrant original music and dance and lavish costumes. This year, they are paying tribute to the many dancers, musicians, actors, and sponsors from the Albuquerque community who have made these unique Carnaval performances possible year after year. In addition, Frank’s latest album, It Seems Like Yesterday, will be available at the event in advance of its official release.

Continue reading →

Annual Carnaval Celebration Premieres New Album from Frank Leto

Frank Leto

With “Carnaval 2023: Homage” set for February 24 and 25 at the NHCC, Frank and Pilar Leto deliver their 18th production celebrating Carnaval with original music and dance. This year, they are paying tribute to the couples who deeply influenced them, such as their friends Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, and Frank is releasing a studio album, Homage, featuring songs that have graced their Carnaval productions over the years.

Continue reading →

Carnaval Hits the Streets (and news about a fun[d]-raiser)

Frank and Pilar Leto.
Dancer Amy Joy Iwasaki.
Frank Leto with Naomi Elizabeth Montoya.

 

For musician/composer Frank Leto and his lovely wife, dancer/choreographer Pilar Leto,
Carnaval has been a pivotal annual event for well over 30 years. They met, in fact, when Pilar auditioned for one of Frank’s Carnaval productions in San Francisco in 1979, and every year since then, wherever they were living—from California to Hawaii to New Mexico—they’ve
produced a Carnaval dance and music presentation.

This year, they return to the National Hispanic Cultural Center, which has hosted the popular annual extravaganza for almost 10 years, and many things in the event will be similar. Frank’s band, PANdemonium, and Pilar’s troupe, the Odara Dance Ensemble, will again feature original music and dance that celebrate the traditions of Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, and Louisiana, and there will be a cast of about 50, astonishing costumes, stilt walkers, dazzling lighting effects, and all the rest.

But there will also be one big difference: instead of presenting a song and dance revue
interspersed with entertaining commentary, the 2014 production will premiere Carnaval: Streets of Love, an original musical created by the Letos and writer Kate Smith, who have their eyes on a final destination somewhere on or just off Broadway.

Continue reading →