Follow international Spanish Flamenco dancer Isabel Rivera and her troupe as they weave song, rhythm and guitar into a powerful performance of this highly complex art.

Isabel Rivera’s career began at the age of four, when her family, from the flamenco heartland of southern Spain, realized she had a gift for the art. Today that career flourishes with growing audiences across Spain and Latin America. Her enthusiasm for working with local artists has already won her many fans here in New Zealand.

Also featuring:

Singer Anna Colom :
Anna Colom’s unique voice has carried her across the globe, from China to the USA, the UK , and Latin America. Born in Barcelona, Anna’s road to professional flamenco singing began at the age of eight. Today she sings in Barcelona’s top flamenco clubs: Tarantos, the Flamenco Palace, and Patio Andaluz. Anna also holds master classes in this highly complex art.

Flamenco guitarist Ian Sinclair
Ian is better known as a television journalist, reporting for TVNZ across the globe both as a foreign correspondent and reporter for the Sunday Programme. But for most of his life, Ian has also played flamenco and is a pupil of gypsy maestro, Juan del Gastor of Seville.

Exequiel Coria, Buenos Aires:
Exequiel Coria’s love affair with flamenco began in his homeland of Argentina where he graduated with a degree in guitar technique from the Buenos Aires Music Conservatory. By the time he arrived in Spain in 2013, Exequiel was already a seasoned professional, with extensive experience in Argentina’s top flamenco clubs. In Seville he studied with Flamenco artists like Pedro Sierta, Rafael Riqueni, Pedro Sanchez, Nino de Pura, Paco Cortes and Eduardo Rebollar. But it didn’t take long for his talent to shine through and he was soon promoted to flamenco guitar teacher at the city’s prestigious Cristina Heeren Foundation.  By 2015 Exequiel was winning spots in some of Seville’s leading venues, performing at the Teatro de la Maestranza, the Monastery of the Cartuja, and the Flamenqueria as well as venues in Barcelona where he currently resides.

This cross over between Spain and Latin America is typical of flamenco, which is in itself a hybrid of ancient Christian, Jewish and Islamic influences. Like the blues, flamenco began as a music in the rural south, with guitar as its main instrument, but built around lyrics which may be changed at will by the singer. In the twentieth century flamenco artists carried the music from the Andalucia, the southern region closest to Africa, up to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, where new influences emerged.

At the heart of almost all flamenco is the compass, or rhythm cycles which are very similar to the Indian raga. Many believe the gypsies, who migrated to Spain from the Indus River Valley, can take some credit for this.

Te Auaha – Theatre 2, 65 Dixon Street, Te Aro, Wellington
Thursday 22 and Friday 23 March 2018
8:30pm
Fringe Addict $25 | General Admission $35
BOOK

Dance ,

1 hr