Noche Flamenca to Bring New Work SEARCHING FOR GOYA to the Joyce Theater This Spring

Noche Flamenca will perform the New York premiere of its new work, Searching for Goya, April 23-28 at The Joyce Theater.

In light of recent political and global events, Santangelo and Barrio felt drawn to revisit the work of artist Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), whose graphics and paintings reveal the horrors of war, the monsters that live within us, the humiliation of the humble, and the value of the strength and sensibility of animals. The complexity of content and emotion motivated them to reimagine Goya’s works through flamenco. With the help of Goya expert and Metropolitan Museum Curator Mark McDonald, Santangelo and Barrio embarked on the creation of Searching For Goya. The production has been in development since early 2022—at The Joyce Theater, The 62’ Center at Williams College, Plays and Players Theatre, and other prestigious cultural institutions. It made its world premiere in November 2023 at the University of Washington’s Meany Center for the Performing Arts, where The Seattle Times called it “a dance performance you don’t want to miss.” 

Searching for Goya features two-time Bessie Award winner Soledad Barrio alongside some of Spain’s greatest flamenco dancers, musicians, and singers.  

The creative team includes Martin Santangelo (artistic direction, choreography, and musical composition), Soledad Barrio (choreography), Emilio Florido and Manuel Gago (vocal composition), Eugenio Iglesias, Salva de María, and  David “Chupete” Rodriguez (musical composition), Mary Frank (mask work),  Dr. Mark McDonald, Ph.D. (artistic consultation), and Mark London(lighting design).

Searching for Goya is a perfect illustration of what Noche Flamenca has become, three decades after it formed as a constellation around Barrio as star: a seamlessly integrated group of collaborators in which every dancer and musician is a master of their craft. 

The upcoming performances at the Joyce follow a December 2023 / January 2024 developmental run of Searching for Goya at the Second Floor Theatre at 122CC.  The show will develop even further for its engagement at the Joyce, where a bigger stage will allow the creative team to fully realize their vision.

The New York City premiere of Searching for Goya is part of a North American tour that has included engagements this fall at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Pittsburgh, PA; Field Arts and Events Hall in Port Angeles, WA; the Meany Center in Seattle, WA; and Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montreal, CAN, where it was presented by Nuits d'Afrique (January 18, 2024). The production will travel to the Lucas Theatre in Savannah, GA, as part of the Savannah Music Festival (April 13); and to the Irvine Barclay Theater in Irvine, CA (April 18), before returning to New York City for the performances at the Joyce. Following The Joyce, selected excerpts of Searching for Goya will play at Jacob’s Pillow August 14-18. 

NYC Performance Schedules and Tickets

The Joyce Theater presents Searching for Goya April 23-28, 2024. Tickets can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling Joyce Charge at 212.242.0800. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at West 19th Street) in Manhattan. Tickets for all of Noche Flamenca’s performances can be purchased at their website at www.nocheflamenca.com. 

About the Artists

Soledad Barrio 

(Choreographer & Principal Dancer). Born in Madrid, Soledad Barrio has appeared as a soloist with Manuela Vargas, Blanca del Rey, Luisillo, El Güito, Manolete, Cristóbal Reyes, and El Toleo, and with Ballet Español de Paco Romero, Festival Flamenco, and many other companies. She has performed throughout Europe, Japan, and North and South America with such artists as Alejandro Granados, El Torombo, Isabel Bayón, Jesús Torres, Miguel Pérez, Belén Fernández, Manolo Marín, Javier Barón, and Merche Esmeralda. Barrio co-founded Noche Flamenca with her husband, Martín Santangelo, and has performed worldwide since the mid-1990s as the company’s principal dancer, including in the title role of the critically acclaimed Antigona. Barrio is a resident teaching artist at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Drama. She has won awards in over 15 countries for her excellence in dance, including Bessie Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement and Outstanding Performer; a 2015 Dance Magazine Exceptional Artist Award; and the 2022 Vilcek Prize in Dance.

Martín Santangelo 

(Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Composer). A native New Yorker, Santangelo spent 18 years in Spain studying with flamenco greats Ciro, Paco Romero, El Güito, and Manolete, and performing throughout Europe, Japan, the Americas, and Australia. In the 1990s he appeared in Julie Taymor’s Juan Darien at Lincoln Center, choreographed Romeo and Juliet at the Denver Theater Center, and, with Soledad Barrio, founded Noche Flamenca. Under Santangelo’s direction, the company has performed annually in multiple venues in New York City and toured throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, South America, and Australia. His critically acclaimed 2014 production of Antígona, with Barrio in the title role, toured globally for five years and was nominated for Bessie and Drama Desk awards. He is currently working on an evening-length show based on the works of the great Spanish artist Francisco Goya. Santangelo has worked with Lee Breuer, Luis Valdez, and Jerzy Grotowski. His most fulfilling collaboration has been with his Soledad Barrio and his two daughters, Gabriela and Stella.

About Noche Flamenca

Under the direction of Martín Santangelo, the award-winning Noche Flamenca is one of the world’s most successful touring companies. Formed in 1993 by Santangelo and his award-winning wife, Soledad Barrio, the company performs regularly in New York City and tours worldwide, including Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Egypt, and throughout Europe, North America, Australia, and Canada.

Hailed by critics everywhere for its transcendent and deeply emotional performances, Noche Flamenca is recognized as the most authentic flamenco touring company in the field today, expressing the rigorous, spell-binding aesthetic of flamenco that exceeds the highest artistic expectations. Santangelo has successfully brought to the stage the essence, purity, and integrity of one of the world's most complex and mysterious art forms. All aspects of flamenco—dance, song, and music—are interrelated and given equal weight, creating a true communal spirit within the company: the very heart and soul of flamenco. In support of its mission to educate and enlighten audiences about flamenco, in addition to its performance repertory, the company offers residency programs for people of all ages.

Noche Flamenca’s achievements have been recognized with awards from the National Dance Project, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the MAP Fund, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Special Theatrical Experience, among others.