Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana Announces NYC Lineup at BAM Fisher, 5/16-21

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana today announced the program for its annual New York City season, May 16-21, 2017, at BAM Fisher.

Founded in 1983, Flamenco Vivo is one of this country's longest-established flamenco companies, dedicated to promoting flamenco as a living, evolving art form. During the weeklong season, the company will present the world premieres of three new dance works by contemporary Spanish choreographers, along with other repertory and showcase solos, all accompanied by live music. The May 16-21 engagement includes eight performances:Tuesday through Sunday evening at 7:30pm, with matinees at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday, at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music's BAM Fisher Building, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY.

The program features new choreography by three distinctive voices in contemporary Spanish dance. In the first world premiere, El Pintor, Flamenco Vivo's Associate Artistic Director Antonio Hidalgo creates a series of vignettes inspired by the Córdoba-based modernist/symbolist painter Julio Romero de Torres (1874-1930), known for his expressionistic depictions of women, flamenco, and the traditional fiestas of his city.

The second premiere, Pa' Triana Voy, provides a slice of life from Triana, the Sevilla barrio that was traditionally home to the city's large Gypsy population. Flamenco Vivo commissioned this dance by choreographer José Maldonado, a prize-winner at Madrid's El Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco, one of Spain's most prestigious dance competitions. Maldonado's work is an outgrowth of a transatlantic collaboration between Flamenco Vivo and the Certamen, through which the company awards a yearly creative residency in its New York studios to one of the competition's winners.

The third world premiere on the program is A Solos (Working Title), choreographed by Angel Muñoz. A 2015 nominee for Britain's National Dance Awards, Muñoz is known for reframing flamenco with bold experimental movement drawn from other forms of contemporary dance. His 2012 Flamenco Vivo commission A Solas, created for five women, modernized flamenco's traditional "solea por bulerias" style with intricate floor patterns.The New York Times praised A Solas as "impressive for its compositional finesse." This season's A Solos is conceived as a men's companion piece and will showcase the individual expression of four male dancers.

The program also includes a special showcase solo by Muñoz, another by fellow National Dance Award nominee Charo Espino, and an instrumental interlude highlighting the company's musical ensemble, under the leadership of Musical Director Gaspar Rodriguez.

Flamenco Vivo's BAM Fisher season features a cast of 14 renowned dancers and musicians from Spain and the U.S., including company dancers Elisabet Torras, Eliza Llewellyn, Leslie Roybal, Laura Peralta, Antonio Hidalgo, Isaac Tovar and Pablo Fraile; featured artists Ángel Muñoz and Charo Espino; guitarists Gaspar Rodriguez and Pedro Medina; singer/percussionists Francisco "Yiyi" Orozco and Juan Suarez; and flutistDiego Villegas.

Tickets for Flamenco Vivo's Spring 2017 New York City season at BAM Fisher start at $25, and can be purchased at www.flamenco-vivo.org, or by calling 212-736-4499. Tickets for the company's First Night Fiesta onMay 16, including premium seating and a post-performance reception with the artists, are $150-$250. The company will offer a post-performance artist talk on Thursday, May 18 (free to all of that evening's ticket-holders), and audience members can also attend pre-show chats before the evening performances on Wednesday (May 17), Friday (May 19) and Saturday (May 20), beginning at 6:30pm in BAM Fisher's Lower Lobby. Led by company members and other flamenco experts, the pre-show chats provide insights into the works featured in the program (free admission for same-day ticket holders, with pre-registration via e-mail tofvcsinfo@flamenco-vivo.org).

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana's Spring 2017 season at BAM Fisher is made possible, in part, through support from the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, Daniel Rosenblatt Foundation, Charles Schwartz Foundation for Music, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The Spring 2017 season is presented and self-produced by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. BAM house and ticketing policies may not apply. All programs and casting subject to change.

About Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is one of America's premier Spanish dance companies, dedicated to the belief that the universal spirit of flamenco, a multicultural art form, has the power to build bridges between cultures. Founded in 1983, the company tours extensively across the country (appearing at some 73 venues in 27 states over the past five seasons), and serves New York audiences with an annual home season, supplemented by intensive arts education programs that take the company's teaching artists into dozens of New York City public schools each year (63 different schools in the past three years alone), and an annual "Flamenco in the Boros" tour that brings free flamenco performances to new audiences around the city. Flamenco Vivo also operates the Center for Flamenco Arts, one of only two New York City dance studios dedicated to the specific requirements of flamenco, and produces the New York State Flamenco Certamen, a competition for pre-professional dance artists, with an annual finals performance staged at Lincoln Center. Flamenco Vivo also maintains a second base of operations in Durham, North Carolina, from which it provides extensive education and community engagement programs that have taken the company into more than half of that state's 100 counties.

Carlota Santana (Artistic Director) is an internationally renowned Spanish dance artist and educator, and founder of Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. She was designated "The Keeper of Flamenco" by Dance Magazinein recognition of her commitment to creating new works and mentoring young artists, and in 2013, the Spanish government awarded Santana with La Cruz de la Orden al Mérito Civil medal for "all the years of passion, excellence, and dedication to the Flamenco art." Santana has produced many major performance programs, presented nationally and internationally, toured extensively, developed and implemented Flamenco Vivo's curriculum-based arts education programs and created numerous community partnerships and residency programs. She has served on numerous dance panels, including as a member of the Dance Panel for the New York State Council on the Arts and for the National Endowment for the Arts. Santana is on the faculty of Duke University and has also taught at Long Island University and New York University.

Choreographer Bios

Antonio Hidalgo was born in the town of Lucena, Spain and has worked with many companies throughout his professional career, including those of Jose Antonio, Carmen Mora, Jose Greco, and various flamenco-fusion groups such as Kon-raza and Arickytwon. Hidalgo appeared with Antonio Gades where he danced the principal role of Escamillo. He has collaborated with the companies of Maria Benitez, Masamy Okada, and The Latin Ballet of Virginia, and appeared on Spanish television and in theater productions with such directors as Miguel Naros, Salvador Tavora, and Antonio Molero. In partnership with Inmaculada Ortega, he directs the Company Aroma Flamenca. He has received commissions from the New York State Council on the Arts for his acclaimed pieces Mano a Mano, Bailaor/Bailaora, and Imagenes Flamencas, which toured nationally and premiered in New York at The Joyce Theater in 2001, 2002, and 2006 respectively. In 2007 Hidalgo received the Premio Andaluz de Lucena for outstanding artistic achievement. Most recently he has been working as rehearsal director and performer with the Fundación Antonio Gades whose mission is to preserve the legacy of this most famous Spanish choreographer.

José Maldonado has worked with some of the most revered companies in Spain including Javier Latorre, Antonio Canales, María Pagés, Carmen Cortés, Guito, Rocío Molina, Rafaela Carrasco, Marcos Flores, and Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía. He often appears in Madrid's finest tablaos, including Casa Patas, Corral de la Morería, Café de Chinitas, Villa Rosa and la Carboneras. A Barcelona native, Maldonado moved to Madrid at 18 to study with María Magdalena, Paco Romero, and La China. Over the span of his career, he has earned numerous awards, including the first prize for Spanish Dance at the competition in Castellón, best solo choreography (2013) and first prize for group choreography (2015) at the Madrid Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco. In addition to his work as a dancer, Maldonado has a passion for painting and his work, as well as costume designs, have been featured on a variety of programs.

Angel Muñoz was born in Córdoba. He began his studies with Inmaculada Luque and as a student of the Conservatory of Dance, performing with Javier Latorre's Company Ziryab Dance. From there he has traveled far and wide with many International Artists, winning the prize La Mejorana in 1994 in the National Contest of Flamenco Art in Córdoba. He was first dancer with the companies of José Antonio and María Pages in Spain and with María Benitez in the U.S. He is first dancer and guest artist with Paco Peña, with whom he has been working for many years. Muñoz has created choreographies for his own company, in collaboration with the guitarist Victor Monge and with Juan Manuel, with whom he has released a record. He was in the movie Callas Forever directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and performs often in London, the U.S., and throughout Europe. He first worked with Flamenco Vivo in 1996 and returned in 2010. Most recently, Muñoz was nominated for the 2015 British National Dance Awards Best Classical Choreography for his collaboration with Paco Peña onFlamencura. He continues to teach and perform worldwide.

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