News

Best of 2007!

After a sold-out show at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland on March 6, 2007, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana was picked as one of The Washington Post's five Best Dance Performances of 2007!

Sarah Kaufman raves:

Unforgettably hot dancing burned this performance into memory, particularly the fury drummed up by Olga Castro, who hammered countless agonies into dust with her heels, and the impeccably musical Juanjo Garcia, who blurred his feet but not their rhythms.

Experience this passion and excitement when Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana comes to a city near you! Check out our upcoming Tour schedule

New York Ensemble Performs at Pregones Theatre

On May 30th 2008 Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana's New York Ensemble performs Flamenco Fiesta with a special performance by the Casita Maria Flamenco Kids.

Friday May 30, 2008

7:30 PM

PREGONES THEATRE

571-575 Walton Avenue

Bronx, NY 10451

Admission is FREE!
Reservations are required: call 212-736-4499.

This program is supported by New York State Council on the Arts Special Arts Services Program The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

25th anniversary Fall Fundraiser Fiesta

So much to celebrate! We're having a Fiesta Tuesday October 23 from 6:00-8:00PM to kick off our 2007-2008 touring season and our 25th Anniversary. See our artists perform and have some wine and tapas, meet other aficionados! Tickets start at $125. Look for your invitation in the mail in late September and if you have not received one and are interested in attending please call 212-736-4499 or email us at santana@flamenco-vivo.org.

Thank you American Express for our new web site!

A giant "Thank You" to American Express whose Cultural Heritage grant allowed us to create an exciting new home on the web. The newly designed site features photography by Lois Greenfield, an online registration page for our New York dance classes, and interactive photo and video galleries.

2007—2008 Tour Season Ready to Kick Off

You don't need to live in the heart of Andalucia to enjoy stunning flamenco. We take the show on the road twice a year, with heart-pounding, breathtaking performances all over the United States! Check our Tour Schedule to find out when we'll be in your area.

Fall 2007 we're presenting Fiesta Flamenca, and Winter 2008 will be the tour of our new dance drama Carmen: El Baile.

A vital part of our mission is to expose new audiences to the multicultural, dynamic, universal art form of flamenco. Our U.S. Tours, and all of the wonderful people who come to see us in theaters large and small, make it possible to fulfill this goal.

We're turning 25!

Amazing! 2008 marks our Silver Anniversary! Celebrate with us: See a show. Try a flamenco class. Lend your support. There are lots of ways to get involved!

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is celebrating 25 fabulous years of flamenco and Spanish dance and bringing this exhilarating art form to audiences and classrooms throughout the United States.

We are very proud of and grateful for the creativity and dedication of our artists and the encouragement and support of our generous contributors. Thanks to them, the Company has sustained its cultural and educational missions for two and a half decades.

Our mission is ambitious. It is "to promote the art of flamenco and Spanish dance, to create quality new dance works and nurture the next generation of artists, and to present arts education programs that catalyze connections among people of different cultures."

In fulfilling our mission, for 25 years the Company has traveled from Florida to Alaska and from Maine to Colorado and Texas to California, bringing the elegance and power of Spanish dance and culture to people who may never have been exposed. Through pre-performance talks, lecture/demonstrations, and in-school residencies and workshops, the Company shares with everyone the pride of Spanish/Hispanic culture and the power of the arts to express individuality and to embrace diversity.

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is also recognized for supporting dynamic new choreographers and performing artists and for staging original and innovative choreography. We and our audiences look forward with enthusiasm to each new year of creative work. Our current work-in-progress is "Carmen El Baile," a dance drama to have its New York Premiere The Joyce Theater March 4, 2008.

Carmen: El Baile New York Premiere March 4, 2008 The Joyce Theater

Our 25th season introduces Carmen: El Baile a new dance drama that recasts the legendary Carmen as a forceful symbol of the drive toward artistic perfection.

The work is conceived and directed by Rafael Lopez-Barrantes,whose 35-year career in the performing arts has taken him from stages and schools in Madrid and France, to ADF and Duke University, and now to the California Institute of the Arts Theater School.

Carmen: El Baile is choreographed by Pilar Andujar who will dance the title role. Ms. Andujar's electric yet graceful artistry has contributed to numerous Company performances. Her choreographies have twice been finalists in the Flamenco and Spanish Dance Competition in Madrid, and she is one of the most sought-after flamenco performers with major companies in Spain and abroad. Original music for guitar, voice, violin, and percussion is being composed by guitarist Calvin Hazen, a long-time Company member.

Carmen: El Baile premieres on February 14, in Anchorage, Alaska, and tours the U.S. before it opens at The Joyce Theater in New York on March 4—9.

News from North Carolina: Flamenco without Borders

"From Murphy to Maneo!" is the triumphant cry for covering the 500 miles mountains-to-coast in North Carolina. We came close, touring from Murphy and Haysville in the southern Appalachians to Pinetown in coastal Beaufort County in April 2007!

In Haysville Elementary School, workshop students learned flamenco song and dance and presented their dances for 1,000 area students. Through the efforts of Dottie Ortega of Tri County Community College, the Company also gave a public performance at the college. The best class from Haysville Elementary danced along with the Company's professionals, to the cheers of one of the biggest crowds the college had ever had! Olé!

In Pinetown, Northeast Elementary School was the site of Flamenco dancers and dancing teachers. Michelle Oros, Grant Writer and Media Coordinator for the school system, along with Dawn Wilson, the Northeast music teacher, gave the Company a full schedule of eager 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. They worked hard, had fun, and looked beautiful while performing in flamenco costumes for their friends and family.

In April 2008 we'll visit Columbus County in eastern North Carolina at Guideway Elementary, with the organizational help of Mr. Kelly Jones, the education coordinator of the county's schools. We then cross the state and return to the wonderful people of Robbinsville (Graham County) and the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center, all organized by Lynn Shields, the center's Executive Director. In between, we stop in the Triangle to share our arts through lecture demonstrations and workshops with the Triangle community.

Warm Welcome to Our New Arts Education Director

Welcome to Deborah Danziger our new Director of Arts Education. Deborah is in charge of promoting Project Olé to principals and teachers. Originally from California, Deborah has just received a Masters in Art from the New York Academy of Art. If you'd like some of your students to have a flamenco lesson or performance you can contact Deborah at education@flamenco-vivo.org.

Flamenco Workshops are a Hit!

Flamenco is popular than ever, and our popular dance classes are a sure indication. New York Workshops and North Carolina classes are full of men and women of all ages trying flamenco for the first time. Flamenco is great exercise, and a wonderful way to build confidence and express yourself! Join us at one of our many classes and workshops.