Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana's Latin American Musical Tour

On March 2, Americas Society capped off its week of flamenco-related activities with a performance featuring dancers and musicians of Carlota Santana’s Flamenco Vivo to a packed house. The group performed Bailes de Ida y Vuelta (Round-trip Dances), a musical tour of Latin America with flamenco versions of popular songs from the region. Guitarist Gaspar Rodrí¬guez and percussionist Francisco Orozco joined dancers Antonio Hidalgo, Leslie Roybal, and Laura Peralta to perform Argentine vidalita and tango, Cuban guajiras, colombianas, and salsa-influenced music and dance. The group guided the audience in what Sylviane Gold of New York Newsday calls a “tour of Colombia, Argentina, and Cuba before ending with a blow-out salsa party.” In Carlota Santana’s introduction, she told the audience that they should not refrain to let out an “Ole!” if they felt so inclined during the performance, and the performers did not disappoint. The dancers and musicians filled the room with energy and they earned a standing ovation. It was an electrifying event in which cultures, separated by an ocean, created art together.

Earlier in the week, Americas Society presented a lecture discussing the transatlantic influences on flamenco at the King Juan Carlos Center. The panel of dancers and scholars discussed the influences of Spanish and Latin American music and culture on the Iberian dance form. The discussion featured anthropology professor William Washbaugh from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, City University of New York professor and ethnomusicologist Peter Manuel, and dancer La Meira. Brook Zern, director of the educational outreach program “Flamenco Experience!,” moderated the discussion. Each presenter explored the influence of Latin American and Afro-American music, culture, and politics on flamenco.
 

[[nid:47829]]