The Pilot Dance Project Presents Cynthia Garcia’s El Baile de Loteria

The Pilot Dance Project Presents Cynthia Garcia’s El Baile de Loteria,
A New Evening-Length Work Based on the Beloved Mexican Board Game

HOUSTON (July 29, 2025) – A year in the making, the artistic team of The Pilot Dance Project is thrilled to present its first evening-length work of the 2025-2026 presenting season! Under the artistic direction of Adam Castan͂eda, the company has spent the past year bringing celebrated Houston-based choreographer Cynthia Garcia’s colorful vignettes to life at area festivals and community events. On September 16 and 17, 2025 the whimsical episodes come together for the fully produced premiere of El Baile de Loteria at Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH).  

El Baile de Loteria is based on the traditional Mexican board game of the same name. Similar to bingo, players have a tabla, or board, that is filled with a unique set of pictograms representing objects and characters. As the emcee pulls a card from the deck and announces its name, players put a pinto bean on the corresponding pictogram if it appears on their tabla. Players win the game when they call loteria after they have marked off either a row, column, or diagonal. In some variations, players can also mark off the four corners of the tabla or create a pozo, or four in a square. 

Audience members become unwitting players in the game of loteria, as each dance represents a beloved character from the game. The evening’s guides will be a group of raucous characters portrayed by the talent of TEATRX: A Latinx Theatre Company. Through Garcia’s signature blend of humor, drama, and character-driven movement, the game of loteria shapes a Tex-Mex fantasy land full of heart. At the end of the evening, one lucky audience member will be able to call out loteria! 

The early development of this work was supported by a City’s Initiative Grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, and individual dances were shown at MECA’s Dia de Muertos Festival, the M.D. Anderson Family YMCA Christmas Posada, Mix-MATCH Festival 2024, and Sin Muros: A Latinx Theater Festival. 

El Baile de Loteria will be performed by The Pilot Dance Project company members Adam Castan͂eda, Jade Devault, Ashley Horn, Sierra Johnson, Cloe Leppard, and Mia Pham; professional guest artists Jaime Garcia and Khalil Cabble; and guests of The Pilot Dance Project Angel Guerrero, Mars Johnson, and Isabel Ramirez. 

ABOUT Cynthia Garcia: 

Cynthia is a Chicana artist that was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and is currently a performer, creator, and educator based in Houston, Texas. She’s received her MFA and BFA in dance as well as her Associate of Arts degree. With over 25 years of dance experience in multiple styles, Cynthia currently teaches at TUTS Humphreys School of Musical Theatre, The Institute of Contemporary Dance, and is a company member with The Pilot Dance Project. She has had works presented throughout Texas and has had the pleasure of dancing for artists such as Marlana Doyle, Sean Curran, Adam Castañeda, Amy Barnes, Erin Reck, Dionne Noble, Ayan Felix, Dorianne Castillo-Rivera, Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre, and Myron Nadel. She has been seen in shows such as The Swan Painter, Panto: Alicia In Wonderland, The Moonlit Princess, Innominate, Cabaret, Mamma Mia, Chess, In The Heights, Monty Python’s Spamalot, West Side Story, Singin’ In The Rain, The Producers, and was a part of the performance company for five years at the Texas Renaissance Festival. Cynthia has a love for all things art and embraces her theatrical and collaborative voice as a part of her creative soul. 

ABOUT the Executive and Artistic Director: Adam Castan͂eda

Adam Castan͂eda is a dancer, choreographer, and arts administrator living in Houston, Texas. He is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Pilot Dance Project, a non-profit arts organization that produces the annual Houston Fringe Festival, the Texas Latino/a/x Contemporary Dance Festival, Queer Fringe Houston, as well as a full season of professional Modern dance works. As a company member of the Pilot Dance Project, he has performed in repertory and evening-length work by Ashley Horn, jhon r. stronks, Jennifer Mabus, Lori Yuill, Orlando Hunter (Brooklyn, New York), Erica Gionfriddo (Austin), and Corian Elisor (Atlanta), among others.

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