Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Flamenco dance performance
|
The professional flamenco and Spanish dance company known as Ballet Espanol will be at the University of Southern Indiana for a performance at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 13 in Carter Hall in the University Center. The School of Liberal Arts is sponsoring the performance as one of the events in the THREADS initiative to offer more diversity programs on campus. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Ballet Espanol is the only Spanish dance company within a 250-mile radius of the Kentucky city. It was incorporated in 1987 to raise awareness and appreciation of the contribution of Spanish culture to the art forms of dance and music. Ballet Espanol is directed by Mara Maldonado. She takes this lively Spanish art on the road for classroom demonstrations, workshops for teachers, and summer dance campus, and she also has built an audience while performing in various venues in Louisville. Maldonado explained that the USI program will allow the audience to experience the excitement and beauty of flamenco. She said, “This free presentation by guitarist and dancers from Ballet Espanol includes performance and audience participation. Join us for a glimpse into another culture.” Flamenco combines singing, chanting, acoustic guitar, and a syncopated hand clap with passionately expressive dancing. It is one of the world’s oldest dances, inherently multicultural. It evolved from the interaction of many cultures, but most important were the Gypsies. Settling in massive numbers in Andalusia during the 15th century, they brought fervor and sentimentality to flamenco, producing famous singers and dancers who by the late 19th century refined it into the art we know today. Improvisational flamenco requires the dancer to perform in the moment, making beauty out of fleeting emotions with what the Spanish call duende or spirit. The Ballet Espanol troupe has grown from two to 15 dancers and it includes two apprentice groups and teaches year-round flamenco classes to 60 students. More information about the dance company is available online at http://www.balletespanol.com/. Dr. Guillermo Latorre, professor of Spanish, said, “The Ballet Espanol of Louisville provides artistic performances, audience participation, and cultural awareness, all of them of the highest quality. The USI program is free and open to the publ |
Copyright © 2013 University of Southern Indiana. All rights reserved.