Flamenco has community & dialogue built into its core. It’s always interesting to me to see the ways that modern dance contrives programs so that it builds community and dialogue. I deeply admire much of this type of work (think [...]
“Aprendí a bailar con las olas del Somorrostro, a mí me enseñó a bailar el mar…” --Carmen Amaya (“I learned to dance with the waves of the Somorrostro (beach in Barcelona), the sea taught me to dance...") Carmen Amaya. [...]
Curiosity and Adaptability. Necessities for dance. And life. Curiosity I’ve taken yoga off-and-on for several years now. This past year, I’ve taken less off and more on—I’m in class at least a couple times a week at the local yoga [...]
Radical ideas that shouldn't be radical (in flamenco more specifically, but in other dance forms too): 1) holding auditions 2) letting dancers wear their natural hair (i.e. not slicked back) 2.5) letting dancers be individuals 3) not choosing dancers based [...]
I think artists often get pigeon-holed by audiences, critics, and even their peers. And I think that sucks. Big time. I've heard through the grapevine that people talk about my shows as "out-there contemporary stuff" that they're not interested in. [...]
Lineage in dance, and particularly in oral dance traditions, carries a great deal of weight. Without respect for those that passed the traditions on to us, we lose the essence of the art form. And without allowing our students to [...]
Recently I was honored to have two high school choreography students call and interview me for a class project. They asked some outstanding questions that really made me think. And one answer I keep going back to...they asked what was [...]
I remember hearing one of my mentors once say to someone else, she's been extremely lucky in her career. At the time, I thought to myself, luck has nothing to do with it. She has worked her butt off, she [...]
I wanted to share the link to New York University's Spring publication of Esferas, published by the Spanish and Portuguese Department and edited by Professor Lourdes Dávila. This issue is all about movement and language, and I had the honor [...]
What makes a good marcaje? First, let's start off by defining that word within the flamenco context. For me, it's any step that holds time, or marks time. Unlike ballet, flamenco does not name every step--in flamenco, a step's purpose [...]
