LA SEPTIMA
An original production from Tampa City Ballet.
LA SEPTIMA
An original production from Tampa City Ballet.
Every City Has a Story. This is Ours.
Choose your journey
THE STAGE
For those who love the theater
Experience the full theatrical production at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center.
THE CLUB
For those who want to step inside history
Step inside the 1920s at the historic Cuban Club as Tampa's story unfolds around you.
THE SALON
For those who want to go deeper
Enjoy excerpts from La Septima, conversations with historians, artists, and community leaders exploring the research, inspiration, and creative process behind the work.
Tickets Starting at $40
This is Tampa
Tampa, 1920s. A city alive with ambition, culture, music, and the people who dared to build something extraordinary.
Through contemporary dance, live music, film, and immersive storytelling, La Séptima brings Tampa's history to life through an original multidisciplinary production by Tampa City Ballet, conceived and directed by Paula Nuñez.
Inspired by historical archives, personal diaries, oral histories, and the remarkable memoir Impressions of an Emigrant, La Séptima transports audiences into the heart of early Tampa, where the stories of Ybor City's families, cigar workers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries unfold in a powerful journey through the city's defining moments.
More than a performance, La Séptima is an invitation to experience Tampa's story through three unique experiences: The Stage, a grand theatrical production; The Club, an intimate immersive journey through the historic Cuban Club; and The Salon, an evening of conversation exploring the history, inspiration, and creative process behind the work.
This is Tampa's story. Told like never before.
Behind the Work
Every city has a story. Before it could be brought to the stage, it first had to be uncovered.
La Séptima is the result of years of research into the people, cultures, and defining moments that shaped Tampa and Ybor City during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Conceived and directed by Paula Nuñez, the production draws from historical archives, personal diaries, oral histories, photographs, newspapers, and firsthand accounts that reveal the lives behind our city's history.
A cornerstone of this research is Impressions of an Emigrant, the remarkable book by Wenceslao Gálvez y Delmonte, translated by University of South Florida scholar Noel Smith. Alongside this work, La Séptima was inspired by the stories of cigar workers, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and families whose dreams, resilience, and determination helped transform Tampa into the city it is today.
Rather than retelling history, La Séptima reimagines it through contemporary dance, live music, film, and immersive storytelling, inviting audiences to connect with the emotions, relationships, and experiences behind the historical record.
Every movement and musical moment is rooted in the belief that history is not only something we learn, it's something we can feel.