The documentary feature film by Óliver Olivo reconstructs part of the history of this discipline through Herta Brauer, Magda Corbett and Clara Elena Ramírez. It arrives in the country’s cinemas on September 17.
Santo Domingo. There are stories that are preserved in documents, photographs and testimonies. Others remain in the bodies of those who learned and transmitted them. The Steps of Time, a documentary feature film directed by Óliver Olivo, takes part of that second form of memory to travel a part of the history of the ballet in the Dominican Republic and follow the tracks of three women who contributed to establishing its bases: Herta Brauer, Magda Corbett and Clara Elena Ramírez. The film arrives in the country’s cinemas on September 17.
The journey begins in the 1940s, when the Austrian professor Herta Brauer develops her work in the country, and continues with the Hungarian teacher Magda Corbett. Years later, in the 1960s, Clara Elena Ramírez initiates a decisive stage for the development of the discipline. Her work as a teacher and later the creation of Ballet Concierto Dominicano opened a path that several generations of dancers have continued. The institution, founded in 1981 along with Carmen Heredia, Olga García, Andrés Vázquez and Carlos Veitía, remains linked to that formative labor under the direction of the latter since 1989.
But The Steps of Time does not tell this story as a succession of dates and names. It reconstructs it from the movement. The choreographies of Carlos Veitía and the participation of the dancers of Ballet Concierto Dominicano turn different moments of the history into scenes that can be observed, heard and felt. Instead of relying mainly on interviews and archival photographs, the film uses dance as a narrative thread and adapts the cinematographic language to the rhythm and space of the ballet.
That decision also explains the value of the work beyond the field of dance. Registering in a feature film the trajectory of those who contributed to developing the Dominican ballet means transferring a part of the memory of the performing arts to a format capable of reaching new audiences and preserving it for future generations. During its presentation at the Centro León, the institution highlighted the documentary as a window to the memory of dance and its contribution to Dominican cultural identity.
Produced in the Dominican Republic, The Steps of Time is a 93-minute documentary feature film that combines historical research and performance to tell the evolution of the Dominican ballet. The production of the Fundación Ballet Concierto Dominicano, under the production company POB Films, has a script by Claudia Galeano, photography by César Zayas, editing by Francisco Montás, original music by Junior Basurto Lomba and choreographies by Carlos Veitía. It is classified for all audiences.
The details of the film were given during a press conference organized by the Fundación Ballet Concierto Dominicano at the Café Bar Juan Lockward of the Eduardo Brito National Theater. The meeting was attended by Master Carlos Veitía, Ballet Concierto Director Sarah Esteva and actresses Marinella Sallent, Patricia de León and Irmgard Despradel.
More than reconstructing a story that belongs to the past, The Steps of Time observes how that legacy continues to transform in the present. Between the figures who opened the path and the dancers who today occupy the stage, there is the same line of transmission: a discipline that arrived from other territories took root in the Dominican Republic and found in several generations of artists the way to remain.
Data
Release in cinemas: Thursday, September 17, 2026. Cinemas to be announced.
Duration: 93 minutes. Classification: for all audiences.
Footnote of RDP Ballet Concierto Feature Film
1- Main Photo- Sarah Esteva, Patricia de León, Carlos Veitía, Marinella Sallent and Irmgard Despradel
Disclosure: This is a press release provided by Henry Coradin through the email “[email protected]”. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the source.
