DATE: Friday, October 25, 2008
Flamenco dance is a healthy addiction I took up years ago. On my 18th birthday, a friend of mine treated me to a flamenco recital where I was astounded at the passion & fire I saw unfold before me on stage. For anyone who has witnessed live flamenco before, you know exactly what I mean! Shortly after Tim left on his mission, I began flamenco classes as a healthy outlet for emotions and haven’t looked back since.
A few months ago I began collaborating with a local flamenco guitarist named Gabriel Edgar who truly is among the most talented guitarists in the state. He plays with an flamenco fusion ensemble called Hidden Truth & we have been collaborating on some exciting pieces.
On Friday, October 24th, we will be opening up for a jazz pianist/singer in Salt Lake City at a non-smoking bar called the 5 Monkeys (7 East 4800 South just off State Street). Our set starts at 9pm and we’d love for you to come support the local arts community!
At right: a flamenco performance in Vancouver, Canada for Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy. Photo credit: Doris Freidich.
One of the highlights from our recent San Francisco trip was live flamenco at La Taza de Cafe in Oakland. San Francisco has some of the best flamenco in the entire continent, so before anything else, I made arrangements to find flamenco.
www.sfflamenco.com is a great guide to flamenco performances, nightlife and classes in the Bay area. It was there that we found out La Taza de Cafe in Oakland has live quadro flamenco on Friday nights. Cuadro flamenco is where you have a singer, guitarist and two dancers taking turns dancing and doing palmas (clapping). There is nothing quite like seeing live flamenco in such an intimate setting, typically the size of a living room and kitchen put together. The power and passion of flamenco is felt strongest in this arena.
We had the honor of taking in a spellbinding performance by bailoras Melissa Cruz and Kerensa DeMars with singer Azriel “El Moreno” and guitarist David Gutierrez. They captivated us for two sets consisting of Sevillanas, alegrias, bulerias por fiesta, solea por bulerias and even a rumba with special guest performances from audience members! I was pulled up by Kerensa and given a chance to make it up with her on the spot. Exhilarating!
Additionally, the staff at La Taza are incredibly accommodating and pleasant – plus their food is AMAZING! Thanks for a great night of fabulous food and flamenco!
Flamenco Nights at:
La Taza de Cafe
3909 Grand Avenue (@ Sunnyslope)
Oakland, CA
Fridays each month
Visit www.latazadecafe.com for featured artists
Call (510) 658-2373 for dinner reservations
Kino Cafe is a tapas bar and great venue for live flamenco music and dance in Vancouver, Canada. Five nights a week you can behold some of the greatest flamenco talent in the Lower Mainland in an intimate environment with no cover charge. Performing are usually two dancers, a guitarist and a flamenco singer.
Kino was one of my first introductions to flamenco several years ago. The live flamenco scene has since evolved to include Rime on Commercial Drive, La Zuppa on Lonsdale in North Vancouver and East is East to name a few.
With several of the top flamenco teachers in town dancing at Kino Cafe, including Kasandra La China and La Karena, their students are often given an opportunity to perform Sevillanas or Bulerias por Fiesta on stage. Pictured at right: Kate and Lisa dancing Sevillanas.
Shortly before leaving Vancouver, Kasandra hosted a going away party for us at Kino Cafe and I had a chance to dance Fandangos. Below are some snippets from Kasandra’s choreography:
Kino Cafe is located at 3456 Cambie Street in Vancouver, BC. For reservations, call 604-875-1998. For flamenco lessons in Vancouver, contact Mozaico Flamenco, Centro Flamenco or Karen Flamenco.
Pirouz Ebadypour – founder/owner of flamenco.ca (Photo Credit: www.ElviraYebes.com)
The search is on for a flamenco singer in Utah! We are a flamenco guitarist and dancer in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. If you know of anyone, please send them our way!
The picture above is of Pirouz Ebadypour. Originally from Iran, he now resides in Vancouver and is making a big impact on the flamenco community there. He has an amazing flamenco voice and I have had the privilege of working with Pirouz on several occasions. Pirouz is also the mind behind www.flamenco.ca – be sure to check out their online flamenco radio station!
Weak ankles are a dancer’s nightmare! My right ankle is chronically weak and I seem to roll it every 6 months to a year. Of course, after seeing many doctors, I know exactly what to do when I roll my ankle:
I’ve been a good girl and stayed off my foot for the last week and been doing all of the above. I’ve been living vicariously by listening to mad flamenco recordings (care of Gabriel Edgar, my flamenco DVDs and YouTube) and running old choreographies in my head. Dance class tonight will tell…
Any suggestions on how to better heal would be much appreciated!
My flamenco guitarist friend, Gabriel Edgar, recently connected me with Tablado Dance in Salt Lake City, a school that plays a large part of the flamencop community here. At the helm is Solange Gomes who emanates warmth and has welcomed me into her flamenco circle with no reserve.
She teaches alegrias Wednesdays (intermediate/advanced) and tangos / sevillanas Thursdays (beginners) at the Rose Wagner Theatre at 300 South 138 West in Downtown Salt Lake City.
Now for my HUGE NEWS! I happened upon a flamenco guitarist here in Utah by the name of Gabriel Edgar. We are going to start collaborating on flamenco together. I’d venture to say he is the best flamenco guitarist in Utah and I am thrilled to begin working with him. (PS: on his site, www.myspace.com/classicalflamenco, you can listen and download his flamenco recordings)
Something about Park City makes me feel like I’m on vacation — must be because it reminds me a lot of Whistler, a favorite vacation spot. An avid fan of Park City and flamenco, I jumped at the chance to see Bien Flamenco perform at the Kimball Art Center on March 8 for their Arte Latino Festival.
Bien Flamenco is the only live flamenco ensemble in the entire of state of Utah comprising of guitarist, Godo, Sariah (in the green), and two other dancers. Sariah does a masterful job of arranging numbers for three dancers, and their castanets work is remarkable.
My favorite photo of the night – Sariah’s Solea Solo with a fan.
We were in for a further treat since Mexican artist Joe Bravo, renown for his incredible art painted on tortillas, was in town from LA to kick off the exhibit at the Kimball Arts Center. Bravo said since tortilla was cheaper than canvas as a poor college student, this was how he expressed his art. And I thought tortillas were for eating…
Today I decided to do something I haven’t done in a long time – flamenco. It was invigorating to think I wasn’t doing this for Tim, Blue Bijou or Pre-Paid Legal, it was just for me. You gotta know when I’m standing at work with co-workers and have the urge to break out into Sevillanas mid-conversation, it’s time to dance again.
The Academy of Dance Design in Saratoga Springs (website to come) has an airy, spacious studio that I rent to practice old choreographies. During the summer of 2006, Kasandra of Mozaico Flamenco taught a Solea por Bulerias choreography which I really took to and even performed that October alongside Pirouz of www.flamenco.ca and Marek of La Triana. Thanks to a recording from dear Farnaz, my Solea is being polished once more.
Picture Credit: Jennifer Wood. Pictured – Sarah, Pirouz, Marek
This Saturday night, Bien Flamenco is performing at the Arte Latino festival in Park City, Utah at the Kimball Arts Center, 6pm. For more details, visit www.kimball-art.org. I look forward to being inspired by live flamenco and meeting Sariah, the genius behind Bien Flamenco. There is a growing caravan of us attending, so feel free to invite yourself and join us for this Saturday night getaway in Park City!
