Inside “La Séptima”: Tampa City Ballet Rebuilds 1926 Ybor City, One Floor at a Time

Ybor City has seen its fair share of changes over the years, especially lately. But through dance, live music, film and storytelling, Tampa City Ballet’s La Séptima is a glimpse into what the iconic Seventh Avenue was like 100 years ago, in 1926.

La Séptima is the brainchild of TCB founder and artistic director Paula Nuñez, who for years researched Tampa’s and Ybor City’s history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

It’s the third piece in a trilogy Nuñez created during COVID, said Nichole Lancaster, the ballet company’s director of marketing. Reflecting on the parallels between the 2020 pandemic and the Spanish flu epidemic from 100 years earlier, Nuñez created the trilogy that culminated in La Séptima.

Her colleague at USF, Noel Smith, gave her the historical book she had translated, “Tampa: Impressions of an Emigrant” by Wenceslao Gálvez y Delmonte. Not only is it the crux of Nuñez’ research, but Delmonte appears as a character in the piece.

She also gathered historical archives, personal diaries and oral histories, photographs and newspaper articles, and firsthand accounts to write and direct the show.

The first two pieces were The Cigar Maker’s Daughter and Interstices, which told the stories of Ybor’s iconic cigar industry, its organized crime element and the music played at social clubs that bonded people from all walks of life.

La Séptima continues that narrative and was first produced in 2025 as a traditional stage performance. That will be reprised Oct. 2-3 at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center.

Back in 2021, Interstices was performed in The Cuban Club, the historical building where some of the events depicted in the piece actually happened.

Taking that a step further, there will be an immersive experience throughout the Cuban Club for La Séptima on Oct. 9-11.

Lancaster said she and Nuñez both traveled to Europe over the summer and were inspired by a performance that had been re-branded into an immersive experience, and decided to have La Séptima be enveloped in the space, which will be recreated as its 1926 version.

In addition to emotional dance pieces, expect film projections that take you through Ybor City’s underground tunnels. Meet characters like the infamous crime boss Charlie Wall and the revolutionary Carolina la Patriota. There will be actors and a chorus.

The way it moves up through the building is reflective of the social classes of the era, Lancaster said. It starts on the first floor in a cantina, where less privileged people play dominoes. By the time you get to the top, there will be a performance with showgirls, she said.

The final La Séptima event is a salon on Oct. 17 at the University of South Florida, a conversation with Nuñez, historians and artists as they explore the creative process and historical figures behind the piece.

There is a plan to make La Séptima a touring production, Lancaster said, because they think the show reveals the city’s history and the immigrants who created it — a history not known to many outside of Tampa, or even current residents.

Stage performance: Oct. 2-3, New Tampa Performing Arts Center
Immersive experience: Oct. 9-11, The Cuban Club, Ybor City
Salon: Oct. 17, University of South Florida
Tickets: tampacityballet.org