A Conversation with Jorge Ballina

Jorge Ballina is the award-winning set designer of El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego).

Jorge Ballina is an award-winning designer who has designed more than one hundred sets for Mexican and international opera, theater, and dance productions, including Seattle Opera’s upcoming production of El último sueño de Frida y Diego. In this interview he discusses how his early love of opera put him on his career path. He also talks about how Frida’s and Diego’s art as well as Mexican culture influenced the opera’s look.

SEATTLE OPERA: What sparked your interest in this project?

JORGE BALLINA: It was mostly the subject. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are so well known that I thought it would be interesting to work on an opera about these very famous Mexican painters. I also wanted to be a part of an all Mexican design team (Eloise Kazan, costume designer, Victor Zapatero, lighting designer). This was also my opportunity to design for a US company.

El último sueño de Frida y Diego begins during the annual El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) festival, when Mexican muralist Diego Rivera longs to see his beloved Frida Kahlo again.
Cory Weaver, photo

SEATTLE OPERA: What challenges did you face while creating Frida y Diego?

JORGE BALLINA: This one was the only time in my career that I’ve designed an opera without hearing the music. When I design an opera, the music helps me imagine the set. As a new work, there were no recordings to listen to.

SEATTLE OPERA: You studied architecture in university. How did you become interested in scenic design?

JORGE BALLINA: I knew from the beginning that I wanted to be a set designer. When I started out, there weren’t many good schools for set design. A set designer recommended that I study architecture. My father is an architect, so I was very familiar with architectural design. But I knew from the start this is what I wanted to do. 

I became interested in opera as a teenager, I’m not sure why.  I saw productions at the Mexican Palace of the Fine Arts. I was usually the only kid in the audience, and I wasn’t impressed with the sets. To me, they were old-fashioned. I went home and built models of my own versions of those operas. 

I knew that architecture was a way to approach action on the stage. Typically, architects design what happens within a space. Set designers design for people who are outside of the space—the audience—not for the inhabitants in the space. But the logic is the same. It all starts with what is going to happen and you design around that.

SEATTLE OPERA: How familiar were you with the lives of Frida and Diego? 

JORGE BALLINA: I know them very well, because they're everywhere in Mexico City. As a boy I visited their houses and the museums. That was before they were international superstars, especially Frida. Today, she’s a commercial giant, she’s a bit too saturated. I don't know if she would like to be a commercial brand or not. I think probably not, but maybe yes. 

But I did read a lot about them preparing for this project. I wasn’t familiar with their biographical details. 

The Casa Azul is the historic house and art museum dedicated to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Located in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City, the house was Kahlo’s birthplace, the home of where she grew up and lived with her husband Diego Rivera for a number of years. 

A set illustration of El último sueño de Frida y Diego. The design incorporates two Mexican painting techniques—exvoto and milagritos. 
Jorge Ballina, photo

SEATTLE OPERA: Did their artwork influence your design?

JORGE BALLINA: Yes, we were all (the entire design team) inspired by their lives and art. The Casa Azul (Blue House) scene is one example. The Casa Azul was Frida’ home in Coyoacán (Mexico City). Because we didn’t have rights to copy Frida’s paintings, the design utilized exvoto and milagritos, two Mexican painting techniques. Frida often used these techniques in her paintings. On the other hand, we had permission to copy Diego Rivera’s mural Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda (Dream of  a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central Park). The mural prominently featured at the opening of the second act.

Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda (Dream of  a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central Park) is a mural created by Mexican artist Diego Rivera between 1946 and 1947. It depicts notable figures and events in the history of Mexico, walking in the Alameda Park in Mexico City.
Museo Mural Diego Rivera, photo

SEATTLE OPERA: Describe the opera’s color palette.

JORGE BALLINA: Color is very important in Mexican culture and art and in the opera, too. Two colors play prominent roles in the opera—blue and orange. Blue represents the land of living. The color matches the cobalt blue of Casa Azul. Orange represents the land of dead, Mictlan. Inspired by orange and yellow shades of the cempasúchil (Aztec marigolds), the flower is closely associated with Día de Muertos (The Day of the Dead) festivities. 

Inspired by cempasúchil (Aztec marigolds), the designers selected orange to represent the Mictlan (the land of the underworld) in Frida y Diego. Cempasúchil, also known as “flower of the dead,” are synonymous with Día de Muertos festivities. The flower’s bright orange and yellow hues symbolize the sun as a guiding light to lead spirits back to the land of living.

A model of the set of Frida y Diego showing the land of the dead, Mictlan.
Jorge Ballina, photo

SEATTLE OPERA: At the end of the opera, what do you hope audiences will take away from the experience?

JORGE BALLINA: I hope they will see Mexican culture in a way they haven’t seen before. I hope it brings new interest and perspectives to the lives of Frida and Diego.

El último sueño de Frida y Diego is on stage January 16–30, 2027 at McCaw Hall. Learn more and buy tickets at seattleopera.org/frida.