New York-based Flamenco ensemble Espiritu Gitano will present its new show titled Flamenco: Felah-Menguz on Saturday, November 15, 2014 at Roulette in Brooklyn, New York.
The show takes its title from one of the many theories about the origin of the word “flamenco” – felah menguz that translates as “fugitive peasant.” Espiritu Gitano expresses the beauty of the blending of cultures, ranging from traditions of India and the Middle East, to those of the Moors, Jews and Gypsies of Andalusia. The artist involved include Arturo Martinez (guitar), Aurora Reyes (vocal, dance), Maya de Silva (dance), Elisabet Torras (dance), Najma Ayashah (Indian Gypsy dance), Elena Lentini (Middle Eastern dance), Sholeh Dalai (Persian vocals), Alfonso Cid (vocals), Sean Kupisz (bass, percussion) and Tom Chess (oud, nay).
Flamenco: Felah-Menguz is directed by guitarist and composer Arturo Martinez, a well-known figure in the New York flamenco scene since the 1980s.
Artist Profiles
Arturo Martinez began playing electric guitar at the age of 13 in African American music, and soon was drawn to flamenco, with its Gypsy, Moorish and Jewish influences. He has accompanied such famed artists as Jose Molina, Jose Greco, Cuni Amaya, Joaquin Fajardo and Concha Vargas, as well as Maria Alba, Pilar Rioja and Andrea Del Conte. His wide-ranging credits include Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, La MaMa, Beaux Arts Theatre (Brussels), and Espace Cardin Theatre (Paris).
Aurora Reyes toured with the Jose Molina Bailes Españoles, worked at the famed La Corral de la Pacheca tablao (flamenco nightclub) in Madrid, and was mentored by La Tati. As a choreographer, she was hired for three seasons by the Andrea Del Conte Danza España to set pieces premiering at the Dance Theater Workshop in Manhattan and the Thalia Theater in Sunnyside, Queens. Her most recent piece, Dedicacion a las Americas, involved a fusion of flamenco styles with the Argentine milonga, the Cuban guajiras and South American colombianas. She is director of her own company, Flamenco Latino, which she co-founded with Basilio Georges.
Maya de Silva has performed as a soloist and a corps dancer with Maria Benitez, Carlota Santana, Andrea Del Conte and Flamenco Latino in tablaos and theaters in New York, New Mexico and California. Prominent venues include The Joyce Theatre, DTW, Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, Kaatsbaan, and Santa Fe Stages; she also performed at Boston Pops for PBS Channel 13. Her company Flamenco Revolucion appeared off-Broadway and at Jacobs Pillow. She also performed in Nilo Cruz’s play Lorca con un Vestido Verde with Repertorio Español in New York. She was on the faculty at Rutgers University for 10 years, and is currently teaching at Carlota Santana Flamenco Vivo Studios and Rod Rodgers Dance Studio.
Elisabet Torras, born and raised in Barcelona, studied flamenco and Spanish dance at Barcelona’s Conservatory of Dance and Theater and continued her studies later in Madrid. Her teachers included La Lupi, Eva Yerbabuena, and Belén Maya. She has toured Europe and Asia with zarzuela, classical Spanish dance, and flamenco companies, toured with the company of Manolo Carrasco, performed several seasons with Javier Latorre’s Somorrostro Dansa Flamenca, and appeared in the Miguel Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez Company in Madrid.
Najma Ayashah, an exponent of kathak dance, is known for augmenting and integrating the Jaipur tradition of kathak with elements of folk and Gypsy dance. She has worked in many cross-cultural projects, performing to music and rhythms of flamenco, Africa and the Middle East. She studied at the Lahore School of Music, and from there entered the Kathak Kendra in New Delhi where she trained under the guidance of the eminent Guru Kundan Lal Gangani. She has taught and performed extensively throughout the world since the age of 16, and is currently a faculty member at NYU. Najma is the artistic director of the Gangani Kathak Dance Company in New York.
Elena Lentini made her debut as a Middle Eastern dancer in the nightclubs of Manhattan’s legendary “Greek town” of the late 1960s. She studied with the admired dancer/choreographer Ibrahim Farrah, and as a principal dancer in his company performed at Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall and the Kennedy Center. From 1979 to 1981, she toured throughout the Middle East with Marie Aguirre. In 1988 she formed the Caravanseria Dance Theater that went on to accompany the Mabou Mines production of The Warrior Ant at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She pioneered the incorporation of Spanish dance with traditional Middle Eastern styles, studying flamenco with Maria Alba, Manolo Rivera and Victorio Khorjian. She performed their works in productions of Flamenco Moro, and as guest artist in Anahid Sofian concerts. For over three decades Elena has taught throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Sholeh Dalai, originally from Tehran, is an abstract painter and singer who has performed at Lincoln Center and La MaMa. She immigrated to the United States in 1985, and first lived in Portland. In 2002, she moved to New York and began new ways of connecting to her heritage and the social dynamics of contemporary immigrant life.
Alfonso Cid was born and raised in Seville, one of the heartlands of flamenco music. His mother, an amateur singer from Triana, and his grandfather, an aficionado of flamenco, were his earliest influences. He received classical training from the Seville Conservatory to study flute and music theory. Since arriving to the United States in 1997, he has made guest appearances with the popular Latin artist Romeo Santos, and appeared with many important flamenco artists throughout North America. Since 2008 he has taught cante (flamenco song) at Flamenco Latino Studios. In 2006, he released his first CD, Flamenco de Vuelta e Ida, with his flamenco fusion project Gazpacho Andalu with Arturo Martinez; in 2012, he released Pulpo (Octopus), the debut CD of his Spanish indie rock project Dientes de Caramelo.
Sean Kupisz, born in California and raised in New York, began his bass studies at the age of eight. His credits include touring with the flamenco group Amanecer, performing with the Andrea Del Conte Danza España ad Flamenco Latino, composing music for the PBS documentary film International High, and working for over a decade with Gerard Edery, an expert in the music of the Sephardic diaspora.
Tom Chess, a New York-based multi-instrumentalist and composer, has played and recorded with some of the top names in improvisational music, including Dewey Redman, Butch Morris, Pharoah Sanders and Ronald Shannon Jackson, as well as with Moroccan sintir player Hassan Hakmoun. He has studied music of the Middle East and West Africa with Bassam Saba, Omer Erdogdular, Tidiani Bangoura, Abdul Aziz Tourè and Mohammad Camarra. He has appeared in numerous venues in New York, including Asia Society, Lincoln Center, the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and performed in Africa, Canada and Europe. In 2012, he was nominated for an Independent Music Awar
Saturday, November 15, 2014 20:00 (8:00 PM)
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave at 3rd Ave, Brooklyn
Tickets $25; $20 seniors, students, Box office (917) 267-0363
Tickets: www.roulette.org
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
