Martín Santangelo, director and producer presents
“El Chiquero” Soledad Barrio and
featured guest dancer, Antonio Jiménez Cantaores Manuel Gago Emilio Florido Miguel Rosendo Guitarist Eugenio Iglesias
Lighting Designer Ben Farrar
Company Manager Jeannine Baca
PROGRAM “El Chiquero” The Company, choreography by Martín Santangelo and the Company Solo de Guitarra Eugenio Iglesias Alegrias Soledad Barrio and Antonio Jiménez, choreography by Soledad Barrio INTERMISSION Solea por Bulerías Antonio Jiménez Solo de Cante Emilio Florido or Manuel Gago or Miguel Rosendo Solea Soledad Barrio Bulerías The Company, choreography by Martín Santangelo All choreography by Martín Santangelo and the Company. Original music by Eugenio Iglesias. Vocal arrangements by Manuel Gago, Emilio Florido and Miguel Rosendo. Program is subject to change. Noche Flamenca is proudly sponsored by La Bella Strings. For information and to join the Noche Flamenca mailing list, please visit nocheflamenca.com.
Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca
The Company MARTIN 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 the Americas, appearing with Maria Benitez’s Teatro Flamenco, the Lincoln Center Festival of the Arts, Paco Romero’s Ballet Espanol and has appeared in Julie Taymor’s Juan Darien at Lincoln Center. Santangelo also choreographed and performed in Eduardo Machado’s Deep Song, directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett. He choreographed a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Denver Theater Center and directed and choreographed Bodas de Sangre, The Lower Depths, La Celestina and A Streetcar Named Desire in Spain and Buenos Aires. Santengelo 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 (dancer) was born in Madrid. She has appeared as 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 artists including Alejandro Granados, Isabel Bayón, Jesus Torres, Miguel Perez, Belen Maya, Manolo Marin, Javier Barón, Merce Esmeralda, Rafael Campallo, Belen Maya and more. Barrio has won awards from more than 12 different countries around the globe for her excellence in dance. She recently received a Bessie award for outstanding creative achievement. Barrio is a founding member of Noche Flamenca and is married to Martín Santangelo. They have two beautiful daughters, Gabriela and Stella. ANTONIO RODRÍGUEZ (dancer) also known as “El Chupete,” was born in 1974 in Osuna and began dancing at an early age in flamenco festivals, fairs and peñas of Andalucía. His dance training was not from school but from the professional singers and dancers that served as his guide. He debuted professionally in El Cordobés de Barcelona, considered one of the finest flamenco tablaos of Spain. Rodríguez has performed with the National Ballet of Spain, shared the stage with Carmen Ledesma in the National Opera of Tokyo and choreographed for
Yoko Komatsubara. He has toured extensively as a featured soloist in Italy, Germany, Holland, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and New York. He continues to dance in tablaos in Sevilla and Granada. This is his sixth season with Noche Flamenca. MANUEL GAGO (singer) began singing flamenco at the age of 5. By 14, he was singing in Cadiz flamenco festivals with well known singers like Juan Villar, Charo Lobato and Rancapino. Gago became a singer for dancers and has sung with Joaquin Cortez, Isabel Bayón, Sara Varas, Rafaela Carrasco, Domingo Ortega, Adrian Galia, El Guito, Manolete, Javier Baron and Cristobal Reyes. Gago has traveled the world, singing in Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S. This is Gago’s ninth season with Noche Flamenca. EMILIO FLORIDO (singer) was born in Cadiz, Spain. He began singing as a child and worked professionally in Jerez, Cadiz and Sevilla. In addition to giving recitals as a vocal soloist, he has accompanied dancers including Adrian Galia, Alejando Granados, Domingo Ortega, Luis Ortega, Rocio Molina, Sara Varas, Isabel Bayón, Rafaela Carrasco, Yolanda Heredia and Miguel Angel Espino. Florido has worked with Cristina Hoyos, El ballet de Madrid and La Raza. He has toured extensively in Japan, South America and Europe. This is Florido’s eighth season with Noche Flamenca. MIGUEL ROSENDO (singer) began his artistic journey in the world of flamenco in Cadiz where he was born, in places like Peña Juanito Villar, La Perla de Cádiz and Enrique el Mellizo. He has traveled to Japan, France, Italy and South America with companies and artists including Javier Latorre, Javier Varón, Manuela Carrasco y Cristina Hoyos, Pastora Galván, Israel Galván y Antonio El Pipa. Rosendo works with the most important artists of flamenco in Spain. He is thrilled to be working with Noche Flamenca. EUGENIO IGLESIAS (guitarist) began playing professionally at a very young age and has worked in all the important tablaos in Sevilla. He has toured with various companies and has accompanied dancers such as Antonio Canales, Farruco, Farruquito, El Guito, La Tona, Javier Baron, Sara Varas, Manuela Carrasco, Israel Galvan, Mario Maya, Angelita Vargas and
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Alejandro Granados. Iglesias has accompanied many of the greatest flamenco singers in Spain including Lole Montoya, La Negra, Chiquetete, La Susi, Carmen Montoya, Juan Villar and El Potito among others. He is currently working on his own flamenco show as composer and songwriter. This is his fourth season with Noche Flamenca. S. BENJAMIN FARRAR (lighting design) is a lighting and scenic designer based in New York City. Farrar has designed in numerous venues across the U.S., including The Public Theater, Playwright’s Horizons and Urban Stages in New York, Flatrock Playhouse in North Carolina, Grinnell College and Iowa Stages in Iowa and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has worked as assistant lighting designer on Broadway for A Man for All Seasons and in many regional theaters, including La Jolla Playhouse, The Alley Theatre and Long Wharf Theatre. Farrar is a graduate of The University of Iowa and Vanderbilt University. He would like to thank his partner in crime, Jody Marie Caldwell. JEANNINE BACA (company manager) has nurtured a love for the arts from an early age, especially in dance and music. These passions,
and a healthy appreciation for the business that supports them, have guided her studies and work. Whether in music business classes at San Francisco State, working with nonprofits and music labels or dancing Ballet Folklorico for Calpulli Mexican Dance Company, Baca follows her various passions. She completed her bachelor’s degree at The New School in New York City. It is with great honor and excitement that she steps into her first season with Noche Flamenca. LAURA COLBY (North American representation) formed Elsie Management in 1995 and has since represented more than 25 performing arts touring companies from four continents, coordinating tours to more than 200 global venues. She has served as tour coordinator for 10 National Dance Project-supported works and as project manager for the development of new works for her clientele. Colby served on the board of Dance/USA for four years and is the immediate past president of the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents. Colby graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from The Juilliard School and lives in Brooklyn. She has represented Noche Flamenca since 2003. Visit elsieman.org.
Noche Flamenca Under the direction of Martín Santangelo, the awardwinning Noche Flamenca has become Spain’s most successful touring company. Formed in 1993 by Santangelo and his Bessie award-winning wife, Soledad Barrio, the company regularly tours throughout the globe. Performance highlights include regular seasons in New York City and Buenos Aires, performances in Greece and Egypt, annual tours to North America and the company’s 2002 tour to Australia. Hailed by critics everywhere for its transcendent and deeply emotional performances, Noche Flamenca is recognized as the most authentic flamenco touring company in the field today. Santangelo has successfully brought the essence, purity and integrity of one of the world’s most complex and mysterious art forms to the stage without the use of tricks or gimmicks. All aspects of flamenco—dance, song and music—are interrelated and given equal weight in the performance, 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, Noche Flamenca offers extensive residency programs to people of all ages. With its office and representation based in New York City, Noche Flamenca is a registered U.S. nonprofit organization with members based in Spain. Noche Flamenca’s artistic integrity has been recognized with awards from the National Dance Project (2006, 2009), the National Endowment for the Arts (2007, 2008 and 2009) and the Lucille Lortel Award for Special Theatrical Experience (2003), among others. Representation: Laura Colby, Elsie Management for bookings in North America 718-797-4577 | laurac@elsieman.org Elisa Wagner, International Creative Productions for Bookings in Mexico 212-861-6468 | elisa@elisawagnericp.com Alberto Bolos Espectaculos for bookings in South America 5411-524-2004 | ajb@ciudad.com.ar
Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca
Brief history of Flamenco The precarious conditions of the Andalucian singer of the past made it inevitable that he or she should dwell on the more tragic aspects of existence. Even though conditions are now incomparably better, the inherent feelings in the cante are universal and timeless and represent a link between the past and the present. Andalucia, a region of southern Spain is flamenco’s home. It has a strong musical tradition documented from ancient times and flamenco takes its place in that heritage. Throughout the centuries, Andalucia absorbed peoples of different cultures and backgrounds, including Romans, Jews and Moors. The most significant arrival to the area, as far as flamenco is concerned, were the tribes of nomadic Gypsies in the 15th century. Their arrival coincided with Ferdinand and Isabella’s conquest of Granada, the last bastion of the Moors and the subsequent expulsion of Jews and Arabs from Spain. Historian Felix Grande, wrote about life in the 15th to 17th centuries, “The Jews were massacred, the Gypsies humiliated and persecuted, the Arabs exterminated, the Moriscos (converted Arabs) expelled and the Andalucians generally exploited...if we do not relate the music...to brutality, repression, hunger, fear, menace, inferiority, resistance and secrecy, then we shall not find the reality of cante flamenco...it is a storm of exasperation and grief.” It was against this background that flamenco evolved. While earlier records suggest that flamenco was at one time unaccompanied, it is hard for us to imagine flamenco without a guitar. The guitar is an integral part of the cante—the singer and guitarist are one. Different types of cante provide the basis for all flamenco guitar music. Most of the cante has a compás, an underlying rhythmic structure which must be strictly adhered to. One of flamenco’s chief characteristics is the complex syncopation against the compás, with the cante being sung almost entirely off beat. The guitarist maintains the rhythm, further enhancing the syncopation. In some forms, like the cante libre (free song), the compás is less apparent, but the singer may break into an established rhythm. The guitarist must follow. The singer is at liberty to improvise, whether the toque (guitar playing) is free or in compás. The guitarist may not know beforehand what will be expected of him.
The guitar has an exceptionally long history in Spain—an early version probably brought by the Romans. During the Renaissance the lute was extremely popular in the rest of Europe, but was rejected in Spain as a foreign intrusion since it was of Arab origin. Furthermore, the vihuela (the guitar’s predecessor) was more suited to the accompaniment of ballads by strumming. Although even today some of the most dramatic forms of cante are invariably performed without guitar, by the end of the 19th century the guitar was in regular use. In the 19th century, there were two types of singing in Andalucia—the cante gitano of the Gypsies and the cante andaluz. Silverio Franconetti, an Andaluz of Italian origin and an exceptional singer of Gypsy styles, was the first to bring these two styles together. The integration of the two forms is the cante flamenco—the end product being, without question, greater than the sum of its parts. The wail of the cante jondo (deep song) resembles the mournful chant of the exiled Sephardic Jews. Its poetry has the existentialist angst and philosophical questioning common in Arabic poetry. The dance which evolved slowly, fully blossoming in the 1840s, suggests the repetitive key symbol prevalent in Islam, the trance inducing rhythms of Africa, and the stubborn search of Jewish music. Flamenco developed rapidly, gaining in artistic stature as well as popularity. Establishments appeared throughout Andalucia and beyond, wholly dedicated to the performance of flamenco. They came to be known as cafes cantantes (coffee theatres) because they served refreshments during performances. Although some survived until the mid 20th century, the heyday was over by the 1920s. Generally they were like cabaret theaters, with as many as four shows a day. Dance has always been associated with flamenco. It is difficult to imagine this music without movement. While sophisticated flamenco dance companies have been touring the world for more than 50 years, it is the raw unchoreographed dances of Andalucian Gypsies that has maintained the art form in its most creative essence.
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FLAMENCO DANCE FORMS Alegrias’ origin is in the jotas of Cadiz–traditional folk music of Aragon, brought to the Andalucian town by soldiers during the War of Independence in the early 19th century. This style is characterized by the richness of its guitar accompaniment, the intricacy of the dancing, the demands of its difficult rhythm and its lively sound. Bulerias developed like soleares from a simple style. However, unlike soleares, it has a fast and lively rhythm—the fastest in all flamenco—and it provides enormous scope from improvisation on the part of dancers, singers and guitarists. It is wild, frenzied and lively, but nevertheless contains the germ of sorrow that is almost always present in flamenco. Cantinas are a distant cousin of the alegrias but the tonalities are very different and the lyrics are much bouncier and compact. Seguiriyas originated from playeras (also placidera) meaning, “hired mourner.” The fact that the words often allude to death suggests its origin may come from the primitive wails for the dead. Indeed, the guitar accompaniment evokes the sound of bells tolling. Soleares are one of the basic cantes—the “perfect’ form of cante famenco, where beauty and depth of feeling are in harmony. Its rhythm (12 beats to the bar) has its origin in a simple dance called jaleo, consisting of three beats to the bar, with the emphasis on the third. Taranto is song and dance from the province of Almeria. The flamenco dance possesses two extremes: the profundity of a seguiriya, a solea or a taranto, and the wild, uncontained gaiety of a bulerias. Tientos-tangos cante y baile festero comes from the villages along the Atlantic near Cadiz. The name comes from the old dances of the region, which produced three different flamenco styles, tientos, tangos and tanguillo. In the tientos, the singing was a simple statement, uncomplicated in style. Perhaps owing to the special interpretation of certain singers, it became more and more serious and developed into a very profound style. The rhythm the guitar provides is based on a basic 4/4 pattern, although it is enriched by subtle accentuations on different beats or offbeats. In contrast to tientos, tangos is sparkling and sensual. Martinete is an austere and rhythmic interpretation of perhaps flamenco’s most profound and oldest forms. The rhythm and song pertain to the siguiriya, but it is not accompanied by music (guitar). In essence, both the siguiriya and the martinete can be defined as searching for hope in a hopeless situation, or believing when there are no longer reasons to believe in life, thus, confronting death. Jaleo is a joyous, yet painful celebration of life, family, marriage, et cetera. It is usually danced and sung by gypsies in festive gatherings. It expresses the sense of vitality and joy of life, yet it contains a somber and mysterious quality. The jaleo preaches that life has moments of wonders and joys but tragedy might be waiting just around the corner.
Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca
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