tomas garcilazo

a n d given command
performances for the
president
of
Mexico. Since moving to the United
States six years ago,
h e continues to
dazzle new audiences with his roping wizardry.
Garcilazo made his Broadway
debut with the Follies in July 1992.
He has also performed with Linda
Ronstadt in h e r series of Mas
Canciones de Mi Padre concerts at
San Francisco's Orpheum Theater.
In August, he performed a roping
act at the Greek Theater as part of
country singer George Strait's concert. He has even worked with r o p
ing legend Monty Montana.
Garcilazo, who has been touring
with the Follies for two and one-half
years now, will see the close of the
western musical in 1995. For the
remaining period, he and the rest of
the cast will do a series of short runs
i n Dallas, b t l a n t a , a n d finally
Chicago.
~EO'@$
Photo by Benha Garcilazo
r Tomas Garciiazo per"Wedding Ring" ( l a
his horse, Pinto Bean.
Two of the brightest young
roping talents today are TO&
Garcilazo, roping star of The Will
Ro.gers
- Follies, and Octavio "Tavo"
Perez, teenage master floreodor of
California's Folklorzco ! . ~ t i nde~
Woodland dance troupe. What sets
both Garcilazo and Perez apart from
their peers is the classic elegance,
stance, and economy of movement
of their churro-sryle roping.
Nevertheless, each has a distinctive
style.
-
STAR ROPER
TOMAS GARCILAZO
Today, experts consider l'omas
Garcilmo to be the world's grcatest
roper. On stage, Garcilazo's presence is galvanizing. Every movement
melds seamlessly. together,
and from
o u t of nowhere he springs o n e
impossible loop after another on his
audience. He possesses exquisite
control of t h e lariat and needs
almost no set-up time to move from
one technique to another.
No less a personage than Will
Rogers' son, James, has stated, "He's
the best roper
I've ever seen!"
The twenty-six-yearold native of Mexico
City has astounded audiences from New York's
Broadway to Los Angeles'
Pantages Theater with his
display of roping tricks
for The Will Rogers
Beyond
his trick a n d
fancy roping, Garcilazo
has an excellent backeround in all manner of
~v
Mexican rodeo competitions. As a national
champion he has taken
down all sorts of rodeo
beasts with his lariat.
tiarcilazo, now a resident of Fontana, California, first picked up a
maguey rope at the age
of five. Over his career,
he has acquired many
national roping and allaround chamendn championships
in
all
categories of team and
single competition. As a
national chan~pioncompetitor h e is called a
Campeon de Charro
Completo, or All-Around
Champion Cowboy. As a
performer he has displayed his lariat skills in
Mexican
rodeos,
parades, and nightclubs,
~
~
Photo by Bellha Garcilazo
The famous Texas Skip" (Pasadas or Viva Mexico)
is among the tricks Tomas Garcilazo performs off the
back of his horse.