At the crossroads of commerce, power, and civilizations, Cuba has repeatedly experienced points of inflexion in the arts. Some of the creative expressions that were present historically in the Caribbean island took on new meaning in the 19th century, when they pervaded circles of artists who were giving life to an emerging culture industry that would soon capture the world’s attention: the art of flamenco.

A new production highlights the cultural footprints of Cuba and other parts of Latin America, which shaped the flamenco aesthetic. Elements of rhythm, music, and movement familiar to South America, Europe, and Africa, influenced the cantes de ida y vuelta, and were part of a continuum that gave rise to music on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

On February 2, 2019, a cast of dancers and musicians performs the portion of the flamenco canon that developed after Atlantic crossings produced this new musical base in Andalusia. The cast includes resident artists from Spain in collaboration with Atlanta-based flamenco artists. Resident artists are performing while in Atlanta to teach classes to youth as part of the after-school program of A Través.

Flamenco Cuba Atlanta
Flamenco concert
Presented in partnership with A Través and the Cubamerica Foundation

About A Través >>
About the Cubamerica Foundation >>

On Stage

Antonio Granjero, Dance
José Manuel Alconchel Ortega, Guitar
Alejandro Navarro Ponce, Vocals
Julie Galle Baggenstoss, Dance
Daniel Benitez, Guitar
Brigid Bollweg, Dance and vocals
Fani Boulard Rigoletto, “La Fani”, Dance
Ana Cordeiro, Dance
Erica Poole, Dance and vocals
Gloriela Rosas, Dance

Saturday, February 2, 2019
Cash Bar, 6:00 p.m.
Dinner, 7:00 p.m.
Show, 8:30 p.m.

Tickets, for dinner and show
Club Members $30
Non-members $40
Students $20

Get tickets online >>
Or, call to reserve with a credit/debit card:
Telly Muzaurieta, 678-404-5719
Gloria (Yoyi) Ángulo, 404-636-0404
Carmen Estrada, 770-714-5885

About the invited artists

Antonio Granjero, dance

Originally from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, Flamenco dancer Antonio Granjero is the artistic director of the company Entre Flamenco and the Flamenco arts center, El Flamenco,  in Santa Fe, NM. There, he leads a group of elite Flamenco artists in residence in the U.S.A. in award-winning performance and educational programming. Antonio began his studies of classical Spanish dance, classical ballet, and Flamenco when he was ten years old, with the teachers Fernando Belmonte and Paco del Río. A year-and-a-half later, he made his debut in “Centro Cultural de la Villa” in Madrid and presided over by the prince and the princess of Spain. He has since performed in theatres of countries such as Israel, Italy, England, Switzerland, France, Japan, and others. After rising as a professional artist in Spain, where he was named by critics as a stand-out among dancers of his generation, Antonio moved to the U.S.A. in 1996 to work for the María Benitez Company as a soloist and choreographer. Within a decade, he launched his own company in the U.S.A, which has gone on to perform before sold-out audiences across the country.

 

Alejandro Navarro Ponce, vocals

Alejandro Navarro Ponce, originally from Mairena del Alcor, Seville, has been performing flamenco since he was 16 years old. Talented as a guitarist and singer, he has a career performing in tablaos across Andalucía and has toured Spain with his group Retales Flamencos. As an accompanist to dancer Sandra Bara, he also has performed in major theater productions in important arts festivals across his own country and Europe, and he appeared in a National Geographic documentary about the Cuban-born dancer. He currently performs regularly at Cava, a flamenco tablao in Miami.

José Manuel Alconchel Ortega, guitar

Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, José Manuel Alconchel Ortega performs internationally as a Flamenco accompanist and solo guitarist. He is in residence in Miami, where he plays guitar in Flamenco shows three nights a week, when he is not touring with Santa Fe-based Entre Flamenco or New York-based Vivo Flamenco.

 

 

Daniel Benitez, guitar

Daniel Benitez Perez has performed flamenco and Spanish classical guitar in festivals and theaters in Europe and the U.S.A. He was born in Rota, a town in the province of Cadiz, Spain. Daniel studied music, majoring in guitar, at the Professional Conservatory of Music “Joaquin Villatoro” in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, and the Higher Conservatory of Music “Manuel Castillo” in Seville. While living in Jerez, Daniel studied flamenco guitar with renowned flamenco guitarist Manuel Lozano “El Carbonero” and Pedro Carrasco Romero “Periquín Niño Jero.” He has performed in Spain and Germany, including at the Villamarta Theater in Jerez, during the major flamenco festival in that city; in the summer concert series in Cádiz; and in Christmas concerts in Ramstein, Germany. Apart from performing, Daniel is also an experienced guitar instructor and is currently teaching flamenco and classical guitar in metro Atlanta.

Brigid Bollweg, dance and vocals

Brigid Bollweg first encountered flamenco while living as a college student in Murcia, Spain. She now performs as a flamenco dancer and singer in festivals across Georgia, as well as in educational programming in schools. She gave her first performance in Atlanta in 2009 as a flamenco dancer.  Since then, Brigid has become a devoted singer, as well, performing with flamenco dancers and guitarists in the renowned Summer Music Festival at Spivey Hall, the Tellfair Museum in Savannah, and Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. She focuses her practice of flamenco on supporting dancers with her voice.

 

 

Fani Boulard Rigoletto “La Fani,”  dance

Flamenco dancer Fani Boulard Rigoletto “La Fani” performed flamenco professionally in Atlanta for the past ten years. She has had the opportunity to share stage with nationally touring artists, such as Cristian Puig, Antonio Granjero, Marija Temo, Yiyi Francisco J. Orozco, and to dance in collaborations arranged by Berdolé. She performed for the Atlanta Opera, and on important cultural stages, such as the Emory University Performing Arts Center, Red Light Café, the Atlanta Cuban Club, Agnes Scott College theater, Mobley Hall, in Covington, GA, Coves Darden P.R.E., SC, and St John Fisher Theater, Rochester, NY. Fani’s dance style reflects her flamenco training with some of the most influential artists in the field. She has a Ph.D., in French and a B.A. in Spanish; she writes articles and lectures on contemporary flamenco.

Photo by Erik Voss

Ana Cordeiro, dance

Ana Cordeiro entered the world of flamenco dance in Atlanta in 1999. Her inspiration for flamenco began the year before, when she visited Seville, Spain, while living in Brazil. Her earliest performances were in Atlanta in 2004 in small venues, and she later performed in theaters with the Caló Gitano Dance Company and Academy. Ana has studied flamenco in Spain, Albuquerque, and Atlanta, instructed by artists who have become an integral part of passing on the art form to new generations around the world.

 

Julie Galle Baggenstoss “Julie Moon,” dance

Flamenco dancer Julie Galle Baggenstoss has performed, choreographed, and taught flamenco nationally and in Atlanta for clients, such as the Atlanta Opera, Georgia State University’s School of Music, The Latin American Association, and Woodruff Arts Center. She is a flamenco instructor for the dance program at Emory University, where she teaches improvisation, choreography, and technique, as she learned from time spent at study in Seville, Spain. She has an M.A. in Spanish and is recognized nationally as a scholar, having contributed to the exhibition of 100 Years of Flamenco in New York, and the bi-annual conference on fandangos and transatlantic crossings; she regularly lectures on African, Latin American, and Roma influences in Flamenco. Also off stage, Julie produces flamenco performances and educational seminars nationwide, involving Spanish flamenco artists in residence in the United States of America via her company Berdolé and the non-profit A Través, which focuses on projects that connect Spanish artists and students of Georgia schools. Julie is the co-founder of Jaleolé, a grass-roots marketing organization that shaped Atlanta’s flamenco landscape for a decade.

Photo by Steve Eberhardt

Erica Poole “La Eritaña,” dance

Erica Poole “La Eritaña” is a flamenco dancer enamored by the deeply emotive, fiercely strong and openly passionate characteristics of performers in the art form. She strives in her practice of Flamenco to discover and to develop her own personalized style. She has had the privilege of studying Flamenco through the years with some of the most important artists of our time, in Spain and the United States of America.

Photo by Trish Lawrence 

Gloriela Rosas, dance
Gloriela Rosas has been dancing flamenco in Atlanta, Miami, and Cádiz for over 15 years. She first appeared on stage in performances in Atlanta in 2001, and has since danced in the Atlana Opera’s production of Carmen (2012), in The Witches of Salem with Flamenco La Rosa, Miami, and student showcases of Miguel Vargas in Cádiz. While Gloriela has studied with influential artists in the world, she is most grateful to her first teacher, Ulrika Frank, for inspiring her to pursue flamenco.

Lisa Vash Herman, vocals

Lisa Vash Herman performs as a flamenco singer to accompany dancers in the Southeast and Midwest. She has performed at prestigious cultural venues, such as Spivey Hall at Clayton State University in Morrow, GA, the High Museum in Atlanta, and Instituto de Cervantes in Chicago, where she was accompanied by renowned flamenco dancer Wendy Clinard. Lisa began studying flamenco dance in 2001 with Ulrika Frank, and in 2010 dedicated herself to singing, with flamenco guitarist and singer, Marija Temo, as her first teacher of that discipline.