Noche Flamenca’s Antigona CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT UBC
“There’s a deep comic and tragic humanity, or
understanding of humanity, that exists in flamenco… And at the end of the day, any artist is looking for that, whether it be in flamenco, or kabuki, or music or whatever art form. That’s our search to respect and understand other human beings” - Martín Santangelo Hollywood Soapbox
Photo: Chris Bennion
Noche Flamenca’s Antigona Presented by the CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Pre-show Talk
6:15pm, Royal Bank Cinema With Dr. Hallie Marshall
Performance 7:00pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall
Adapted and Directed by Martín Santangelo
The Cast Antigona Haemon Creonte Tiresias Master of Ceremonies Oedipus Carlos Jocasta/Chorus Ismene/Chorus Eurydice/Chorus Eteocles/Chorus Polyneices/Chorus Oracle/Chorus
Musicians Guitar Percussion Electric Guitar & Bass
Soledad Barrio Juan Ogalla Manuel Gago Pepe ‘El Bocadillo’ Emilio Florido Perez Vega Xianix Barrera Marina Elana Angelina Ramirez Robert Wilson Carlos Menchaca Jeanne d’Arc Casas Eugenio Iglesias Salva de María David ‘Chupete’ Rodriguez Hamed Traore
Producer Sharon Levy (Dovetail Productions); choreography Soledad Barrio; additional choreography Isabel Bayón; consulting director Lee Breuer; mask design based on the work of Mary Frank; music and vocal arrangements by Eugenio Iglesias, Salva de María and Martín Santangelo; original text by Sophocles; assistant to the director Marina Scannell; artistic consultant Gabriela Goldin Garcia; lyrics adapted and written by Martín Santangelo; production design S. Benjamin Farrar; costume design Soledad Barrio; mask artisan Sydney Moffat; tour manager Carlos Perez Vega; stage manager Cory Asinofsky; projectionist Norell Agusti. Antigona is based on an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone in the version by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. The program is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording are not permitted. Thank you!
Antigona: Scenes 1) Prayer to Zeus (Rezo al Zeus) A prayer to the gods to break the curse of the Labdacus family.
2) Tiresias and Antigona (Tiresias y Antigona) Tiresias, the blind seer, foretells Antigone’s tragedy and celebrates her valor.
3) The Family (La Familia) An introduction to the Labdacus family.
4) Brothers’ War (Guerra Entre Hermanos) Eteocles and Polyneices, sons of Oedipus, war against one another at the gates of Thebes.
5) Creon’s Inauguration (Inauguración de Creonte) Creon is inaugurated as the king of Thebes, orders Eteocles’ funeral honours and outlaws Polyneices’ burial.
6) Burial of Polyneices (Entierro de Polineices) Defying Creon, Antigone buries her brother, Polyneices.
7) Confrontation of Creon (Confrontación Creonte) Antigone is captured and sentenced to death by Creon. Antigone and Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s beloved, confront Creon.
8) Ode to Love (Oda al Amor) Haemon attempts to consummate his love for Antigone. She chooses death.
9) Journey on the River of Acheron (Viaje al Rio Acheron) Antigone’s passage to the underworld.
10) Tiresias Confronts Creon (Confrontación de Creonte y Tiresias) Tiresias foresees Creon’s fate and confronts him. He has betrayed the gods, the dead and the living.
11) Creon’s Nightmare (La Pesadilla de Creonte) The consequences of his actions begin to dawn on Creon.
12) Exile to the Cave (Exiliada a la Cueva) Creon exiles Antigone to the cave.
13) Suicide (Suicidio) 14) Creon Repents (Creonte se Arrepiente) Creon laments his actions.
15) Epilogue (Epílogo) 4
There is no happiness where there is no wisdom. No wisdom, but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished. Proud men learn to be wise in old age.
Photo: Zarmik Moqtaderi
Noche Flamenca Under the direction of Martín Santangelo, the award-winning Noche Flamenca has become one of the world’s most successful touring companies. Formed in 1993 by Santangelo and his Bessie Award-winning wife, Soledad Barrio, the company performs regularly in New York City and tours worldwide, including Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Egypt and throughout Europe, North America, Australia and Canada. Hailed by critics everywhere for its transcendent and deeply emotional performances, Noche Flamenca is recognized as one of the most authentic flamenco touring companies in the field today, expressing the rigorous, spell-binding aesthetic of flamenco that exceeds the highest artistic expectations. Santangelo has successfully brought to the stage the essence, purity, and integrity of one of the world’s most complex and mysterious art forms. All aspects of flamenco−dance, song, and music−are interrelated and given equal weight creating a true communal spirit within the company: the very heart and soul of flamenco. In support of its mission to educate and enlighten audiences about flamenco, in addition to its performance repertory, the company offers extensive residency programs that reach out to people of all ages. Noche Flamenca’s achievements have been recognized with awards from the National Dance Project, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Arts Council, the MAP Fund, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and the Lucille Lortel Award for Special Theatrical Experience, among others.
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Photo: Zarmik Moqtaderi
Sophocles’ Antigone by Ruby Blondell, Professor of Classics (Adjunct in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies) at the University of Washington Antigone, a tragedy by the Greek playwright Sophocles, was first produced around 442 BCE in Athens, at a dramatic festival in honour of the god Dionysus. It is based on myths about the children of Oedipus, the legendary king of Thebes. After Oedipus’ death, his son Polyneices waged war on their native city in an attempt to gain power, but was killed in battle by his brother Eteocles, who was defending the city (along with his own claim to the throne). Eteocles died simultaneously, at his brother’s hand. As a result, their uncle Creon became king. When Sophocles’ drama opens, Creon has forbidden anyone to bury the corpse of the traitor Polyneices under penalty of death. Against the advice of Ismene, her more conventional sister, Oedipus’ daughter Antigone defies this decree and buries their brother in secret. She shows no interest in the affairs of state; she is driven rather by family loyalty (which demands the burial of dead kin), and a powerful sense of religious obligation (an unburied corpse is offensive to the gods). After Creon’s guards uncover the corpse, Antigone buries it again, but this time she is caught. When Creon confronts her, she tells him defiantly that she was obeying the “unwritten laws” of the gods, which have far more weight with her than mortal laws like his. Outraged at being defied by a woman, her uncle orders her buried alive in a rocky cave. Creon’s son Haemon, who is betrothed to Antigone, makes an eloquent appeal for her life, but the king remains intransigent. After she is led away, lamenting her fate, the blind prophet Teiresias threatens Creon with terrifying prophecies of divine disapproval, and he finally changes his mind. But it is too late. A messenger arrives to inform us that Creon buried Polyneices himself and then hurried to Antigone’s tomb, only to find that she has hanged herself with a piece of her clothing; the first to find her body was Haemon, who angrily threatened his father but then killed himself instead, embracing Antigone’s corpse. When his mother, Creon’s wife, hears the news about her son, she likewise kills herself. Creon ends the play a crushed and remorseful man. Sophocles’ famous drama has given rise to many hundreds of productions, adaptations, and reinventions, in all kinds of artistic media. It has also served as a vehicle for explorations in ethical, legal, political, psychoanalytic and feminist theory. Antigone has been a focus, too, for questions about the gendering of heroism−questions that have changed shape along with shifting cultural mores. In Victorian times, for example, Antigone could be perceived as the incarnation of dutiful Christian womanhood, but more recently her resistance to masculine authority has made her a feminist icon. Though her character as portrayed by Sophocles is fundamentally apolitical, her defiance of the king’s authority has also made her a poster-child for civil disobedience and free speech, her death consecrated her as a martyr to state oppression. She has stood for political resistance in wildly divergent cultural conditions, from Nazi-occupied Europe to South Africa under apartheid, from the European student uprisings of May 1968 to the Irish “troubles.”
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MARTÍN SANTANGELO
(Artistic Director) founded Noche Flamenca. He studied with Ciro, Paco Romero, El Guito, Manolete and Alejandro Granados. He has performed throughout Spain, Japan and North and South America, appearing with Maria Benitez’s Teatro Flamenco, the Lincoln Center Festival of the Arts and Paco Romero’s Ballet Espanol. He also appeared in Julie Taymor’s Juan Darien at Lincoln Center and choreographed and performed in Eduardo Machado’s Deep Song, directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett. Santangelo choreographed a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Denver Theater Center and directed and choreographed Bodas de Sangre, The Lower Depths, La Celestina, A Streetcar Named Desire, amongst many other productions in Spain and Buenos Aires. He has collaborated with many, many artists, but his most fulfilling collaboration has been with his wife, Soledad Barrio and his two wild daughters, Gabriela and Stella.
SOLEDAD BARRIO (Choreographer & Dancer) was born in Madrid. She has
appeared as a soloist with Manuela Vargas, Blanca del Rey, Luisillo, El Guito, Manolete, Cristobal Reyes, and El Toleo, Ballet Espanol de Paco Romero, Festival Flamenco and many other companies. She has performed throughout Europe, Japan and North and South America with such artists as Alejandro Granados, El Torombo, Isabel Bayón, Jesus Torres, Miguel Perez, Manolo Marin, Javier Barón, Merce Esmeralda, Rafael Campallo, and Belen Maya among others. Barrio has won awards from over 15 different countries for her excellence in dance, including a Bessie Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement and a 2015 Dance Magazine Exceptional Artist award. She is a founding member of Noche Flamenca and is married to Martín Santangelo.
JUAN OGALLA
(Dancer) was born in Cádiz, Spain. He began dancing as a professional at the age of fifteen. He was a member of the Company Manuel Morao, Ballet de Cristina Hoyos, Manuela Carrasco, Company of Maria Pages, and many others. Ogalla also performed at the following festivals: Festival Internacional de Mont de Marssans, Festival de Música y Danza de Granada, Festival de Jerez, Festival Flamenco de Mahón, and Festival Querencias en Ceret. As a soloist, he has performed in many tablaos in Spain such as Casa Patas, El Arenal, Los Gallos, as well as in Spain’s most important theatres and many theatres in Europe, Japan and the U.S.A., including the Paris Opera. He is currently working on a production with Manuela Ríos and Arcángel.
SALVA DE MARÍA (Guitarist) was born in Madrid. He is the son of Basilio de Cadiz and the singer/dancer Maria Fernandez and grandson of legendary singer Antonio “La Chaqueta”. He began his career in the peña flamenca “Chaqueton” accompanying singers Carmen Linares, José Merce, Vicente Soto, Chaqueton and others. Salva moved to Barcelona to work with Maite Martin, La Chana, Guinesa Ortega, and other mythic figures in flamenco. He went on to work with Carmen Cortes and Gerardo Nuñez in the Lorca’s Yerma. Since 2001 he has collaborated with guitarist Chicuelo, working with artists Miguel Poveda, “La Susi”, Maite Martin Chano Lobato, Israel Galvan, Isabel Bayón, Javier Latorre and “Duquende”. 8
Photo: Chris Bennion
EUGENIO IGLESIAS (Guitarist) began playing professionally at a very young age where he worked in all the significant “tablaos” in Sevilla. He then began touring with various companies and has accompanied many dancers such as Antonio Canales, Farruco, Farruquito, El Guito, La Tona, Javier Baron, Sara Varas, Manuela Carrasco, Israel Galvan, Mario Maya, Angelita Vargas, and Alejandro Granados. He has also accompanied many of the greatest flamenco singers in Spain including Lole Montoya, La Negra, Chiquetete, La Susi, Carmen Montoya, Juan Villar and El Potito amongst many others. He is currently working on his own flamenco show as composer and songwriter. MANUEL GAGO (Singer) was born in Cádiz, Spain to a family of flamenco singers,
and began singing at the age of five. By fourteen, he was singing in flamenco festivals with such well-known singers as Juan Villar, Charo Lobato and Rancapino. Later, Manuel began singing for dancers, including Joaquin Cortez, Sara Varas, Rafaela Carrasco, Belen Maya, El Guito, Manolete, Javier Baron and Cristobal Reyes. Manuel has traveled the world, singing in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States.
EMILIO FLORIDO (Singer) was born in Cádiz, Spain. He began singing at a young age and performed professionally all over Spain as a solo singer. He has accompanied such dancers as Adrian Galia, Domingo Ortega, Luis Ortega, Belen Maya, Yolanda Heredia, Miguel Angel Espino, and others. He has worked with the companies of Cristina Hoyos, El Ballet de Madrid, La Raza and has toured extensively in Japan, South America and Europe. 9
Exploring the role of the arts and artists in society. chancentre.com/connects
Pre-show Talk with Dr. Hallie Marshall 6:15pm: Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre
“Death in Thebes: From Oedipus to Antigone” Originally composed for performance at a festival in honour of the god Dionysus in Athens in the 5th century BC, Sophocles’ Theban plays have a long artistic legacy stretching from antiquity to the present. This talk will provide a contextual back story for Noche Flamenca’s Antigona, exploring the story of the house of Oedipus, the flexibility of Greek myth and the ancient performance tradition, and examples of ways in which artists have engaged with these plays in later periods. Dr. Hallie Marshall is an Assistant Professor at UBC’s Department of Theatre and Film. Her research explores the literature and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome and its reception (the influence and redeployment) in later periods. Her first two degrees were in Classics (a BA in Classical Studies and Latin, and a MA in ancient Greek philosophy and quotation culture in the second century AD), followed by a PhD in Comparative Literature, examining the reception of ancient Greek and Latin literature in British verse drama, with a focus on the plays of Tony Harrison. Dr. Hallie Marshall is a Wall Scholar, and this pre-show talk is presented in partnership with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC.
UBC School of Music Fanfares The fanfare that was performed in the lobby prior to this concert (6:30pm and 6:45pm) was commissioned by the Chan Centre from UBC student composer Nova Pon as part of an ongoing partnership with the UBC School of Music. Azura Quartet Chinley Hinacay Soprano Saxophone Mo Miao Alto Saxophone
Haley Heinricks Tenor Saxophone Mia Gazley Baritone Saxophone
Nova Pon holds degrees from University of Calgary and University of British Columbia, and continues exploring connections within music, psychology and philosophy. Her music has been performed on four continents, and she is a recent winner of the CMC’s Emerging Composer Competition and a nominee for a Western Canadian Music Award. She is also a passionate music teacher and flutist. Fanfarria is a short piece composed to announce and celebrate the start of an exciting performance event. The fanfare takes inspiration from a taste of the immense world of flamenco, from the saxophones who bear the music, and from the composer’s own musical language.
Pre-concert dinners at Sage Restaurant The Chan Centre has partnered with UBC’s Sage Restaurant for the 2016/17 Chan Centre Presents series. Now it’s easy to enjoy dinner before your performance, in a location just steps from the Chan Centre. For only $32.50 per person, indulge in a delicious three-course menu of fresh, West Coast cuisine. Book early, these dinners often sell out! Details at chancentre.com/sage. Bon appétit!
Support for Noche Flamenca’s Antigona Antigona was made possible by: Wendy vanden Heuvel; Luly Santangelo; The New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Antigona also supported in part by: The National Endowment for the Arts; The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Antigona was developed with the assistance of Noche Flamenca’s residency partners: El Teatro Campesino; The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts; The Meany Center for the Performing Arts. Antigona was originally commissioned with support from Joe’s Pub at The Public. 11
The Unexpected Alchemy of Flamenco and Greek Tragedy By Taryn Plater In 442 BCE, Sophocles’ classic play Antigone warned citizens of Athens about the dangers of an oppressive government, depicting a heroine who rebels in the interest of personal freedom. 2377 years later, Spain was thrown into a civil war which would last three years, and the repercussions of which would still be felt decades later. The tragedy of Antigone has been adapted countless times. From new translations to operas, the story of a girl who defies the state in order to honour her family has resonated with audiences worldwide. But of all genres, what could bring this ancient story to life better than passionate, rebellious flamenco? The New York City troupe Noche Flamenca seized this opportunity, and in 2014, Noche Flamenca’s Antigona premiered to enduring acclaim.
Accustomed to expressing high passion and fatalistic ideas through music and movement, flamenco companies are better equipped than most theatrical troupes to take on Greek tragedy. (The New York Times, 2015)
In 2010, Judge Baltasar Garzón advocated for the proper burial of those who fought against Franco during the Spanish Civil War. For this, Garzón was suspended from the Spanish court. This injustice helped spur artistic director Martín Santangelo to tell Antigone’s eerily topical story. With this retelling, Santangelo draws parallels between Antigone’s story of principled disobedience and the injustices in our world. Creon’s almost arbitrary choice to glorify one brother and shame the other brings our attention to the irrationality of valuing one group of people over another, be it based on ideology, ethnicity, or other loyalties. Santangelo sees this injustice as it relates to those who were on the ‘wrong side’ of the Spanish Civil War, but countless other examples exist today. Most striking of course, is the parallel between Creon’s decry to leave Polyneices’ corpse unburied on the battlefield, and the unmarked mass graves of insurgents against Franco’s rule. The disappearances of many dissenters, famously among them the poet Federico García Lorca, were not to be spoken of at the time, and these unmarked graves are still being identified today.
I read that in the paper, and I thought, it’s ‘Antigone’—demagogues not just killing people but leaving them in the dirt, dishonoring them. - Martín Santangelo (The New Yorker, 2015)
A nearly perfect parallel - for Creon, citizenship and the right to burial is based on complete loyalty to the state. When Polyneices attacked, he became a foreigner in the eyes of Creon, and no longer had rights as a citizen of Thebes.
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Photo: Zarmik Moqtaderi
Flamenco has its roots in the mixing of cultures. It flourished under oppression when marginalized groups were brought together by common hardship, and it has been a vehicle for impassioned and defiant expression ever since. Noche Flamenca’s use of the dance form to express Antigone’s personal and moral rebellion seems only natural. Between the chaos of the Spanish Civil War and the destruction of World War II, flamenco became less common during the 1930s and 40s - just when its themes were most relevant. Nevertheless, the art form experienced a second heyday in the 60s and 70s as artists incorporated jazz and other new cultural influences. As war and the impact of Franco’s regime persist, so does the use of flamenco to counter these and other tyrannies. Noche Flamenca’s Antigona does a service to both flamenco and Greek tragedy. In marrying two of the most compatible and relevant performance genres, this adaptation conveys to a new audience the contradictions and warnings that Sophocles communicated thousands of years ago. Antigona is a play to be seen and experienced, but most of all, to be felt. If you let it wash over you like a wave, you might just hear Sophocles in the background, clapping his hands in time to the rhythm. (StageBuddy, 2015)
Taryn Plater is in her fourth year at UBC, pursuing a dual degree in Music and Linguistics, and a Master of Management. She is passionate about expanding the role of the performing arts in our society, and is currently Marketing and Communications Assistant at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. 13
Upcoming Events at the Chan Centre Full details at chancentre.com
Mar 17 at 6:30pm: Opera Ball Fundraiser Presented by the UBC School of Music Mar 19 at 3pm: Paul Lewis, piano Presented by the Vancouver Recital Society as part of the Classic Afternoon series at the Chan Centre
Mar 24 at 7:30pm: UBC Chamber Strings, Telus Studio Theatre Presented by the UBC School of Music
Mar 24 + 25 at 8pm: Jon Kimura Parker plays Beethoven Presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Mar 25 at 7:30pm: Salsa at the Chan, Telus Studio Theatre Presented by Sal Ferreras and his Latin Orchestra in support of The Lipstick Project
Mar 26 at 2pm: The Choir of King’s College Cambridge Presented by Early Music Vancouver
Mar 26 at 8pm: Anda Union Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts ANDA UNION
EVENTS In conjunction with the Anda Union concert at the Chan Centre on March 26, there will be two special Chan Centre Connects events. Details at chancentre.com/connects. Film Screening: Anda Union – From the Steppes to the City – Thursday, March 23, 2017, 7pm at The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe Street. SANTA J. ONO Presented in association with The Cinematheque. Anda Union Throat Singing Workshop – Sunday, March 26, 2017, 11am at MBA House, 3385 Wesbrook Mall, UBC. FREE, all ages. MARIZA Presented in association with Wesbrook Village. 14
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC Joyce Hinton Cameron McGill Jazel Argente Carl Armstrong Wendy Atkinson Brad Danyluk Kara Gibbs David Humphrey Flora Lew Glenda Makela Trevor Mangion Chloe Martin-Cabanne Caitlin McKee Claire Mohun George Pereira Andrew Riter Nadia Roberts Lyndsey Roberts Kim Smith
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Members of Cupe 2950
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Vanessa Borowicz Janice Lew Valentina Montilla Taryn Plater
Administration Assistant, Work Learn Student Artistic Presentations Assistant, Work Learn Student Artistic Presentations Assistant, Work Learn Student Marketing & Communications Assistant, Work Learn Student
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“The music we do is weaved together through
stories and life When The Chan Centre would likeexperiences. to thank our 2016/2017 seriespeople sponsors: come to hear us, I hope they are uplifted The Chan Endowment Fund and the UBC Faculty of Arts
and that we give them a lot to take home.” – Dianne Reeves (San Diego Union-Tribune, 2016)
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SUNDAY
MAR 26 2017 8pm
Anda Union
Max Raabe and Palast Orchester SUNDAY
APR 09
2017 7pm
Tickets and info at chancentre.com