‘NUESTRO FLAMENCO’

Featuring world-famous choreographer and dancer DOMINGO ORTEGA along with invited singer SONIA BERBEL from Málaga! Additional special guest artists included PACO ARROYO, guitarist, YOLANDA ARROYO, dancer, FANNY ARA, dancer, KAI NAREZO, guitarist and JOEY HEREDIA on percussion.

“Domingo Ortega is one of the biggest talents of his generation. Despite his obvious technical command, he knows and revels in the importance of subtlety and the rejection of acrobatics. God is in the details, and this apostle knows how to incorporate the best elements of Canales, Galván, Barón and Farruquito, without looking like any one of them. Domingo Ortega is the art of silence, the eloquence of the unstated, fleeing at each moment from technical displays and the quest for easy applause, relying always on the power of compás. A dancer of clean and totally original lines, despite the diverse influences reflected. Domingo Ortega possesses the all-important virtue of knowing what he can do and never miscalculating, each movement is carried out to its ultimate consequences and every cell of his organism is accomplice to the task.” (Feb. 2007 ‘deflamenco.com’ by Estela Zatania)

DOMINGO ORTEGA was born in 1969 in Jerez de la Frontera, where he began dancing at the age of eight. He studied with Cristobal Fernandez, Juanerre, Paco del Rio and Fernando Belmonte. In Seville, he studied with Manolo Marín. At the age of 18, he won first prize in a flamenco contest organized by the Province of Cádiz. One year later, Domingo was a soloist in Albarizuela, which was managed by Fernando Belmonte and presided over by the Prince and Princess of Spain. In 1989 and 1990, he received the prize for the best Flamenco dancer in the national competition of Ubrique and in the Cadiz province competition.

Domingo soon became considered one of the top dancers of his generation and is known for his bulerias, the fiesta form of flamenco that has made Jerez de la Frontera famous. Flamenco is Jerez is known for its particularly rhythmic style and its joyous outlook on life.

In 1995 Ortega formed his own company. Soon thereafter he was invited by Christina Hoyos(one of the most well-known and honored flamenco dancers in the world) to bring his company to Japan for six months to perform at the El Flamenco Theatre in Tokyo. Domingo and company performed to rave reviews.

When Domingo is not touring with his company, he is one of the most sought after flamenco teachers in Jerez de la Frontera, as well as Canada, Brazil, Japan, the United States, and Tel Aviv.

~~~
PACO & YOLANDA ARROYO

PACO ARROYO began playing guitar at the age of 17. He comes from a family of musicians, poets and artists. He worked in flamenco “tablaos” such as El Cordobés and Los Tarantos, alongside popular artists within the genre. Artists he was worked with include: Camarón de la Isla, Tomatito Manzanitas, Juanito Villar and Los Farrucos. In 1979 he toured France along with Camarón de la Isla and La Marelu. He worked 10 years at the El Cordobés, and whilst there had the opportunity of working alongside flamenco greats such as Manuela Carrasco , El Extremeño, Pansequito, and Capullo de Jeréz.

In 1981 he traveled to Venezuela on a work contract to play at the flamenco “tablao” Café de Chinitas. Shortly thereafter in 1982, he traveled to California to perform at the Espartaco’s Fiesta ballroom. In 1986 he traveled to Hokkaido, Japan to play with a flamenco group there.

Upon establishing residence in Los Angeles, California; Paco and his wife Yolanda form the flamenco troupe Herencia Flamenca. The group has performed at various venues across Southern California including, the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Royce Hall theatre, Kaufman Theatre at UCLA, Las Vegas Nevada University, and the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood. Other notable performances include working with Charo Monge, president of the Peña Andaluza club in California,

Paco has also been sponsored by the Consulate of Spain in Los Angeles, to perform at various California universities, including: UC Santa Barbara, UC San Francisco, UC Long Beach, and UCLA.

Visit flamencoarroyo.com

~~~
YOLANDA ARROYO began dancing flamenco at the tender age of 3. By the age of 9 she began working in theatres, “peñas”, and “tablaos”. While still in Spain she performed at the Tablao El Cordobés, Las Cuevas, and Los Tarantos; with artists such as Enrique el Extremeño, Juan Manuel Canizares, Maruja Garrido, Manuela Carrasco, Vicente Gelo, La familia Rubichi, Camarón de la Isla, Pastora, and Jose Galván. Yolanda’s career has taken her to far off places such as France, Japan, the United States, Mexico, and Hawaii. During 1981 she traveled to Venezuela to perform at the Café de Chinitas, alongside performers Paloma Marín and El Yunke. In 1982 she traveled to California to perform alongside a Spanish troupe at the Espartaco’s Fiesta ballroom, which included Charo Monge, president of the Peña Andaluza in California, Pepe del Gastór, and Pepa Sevilla.

During the years she has spent residing in Los Angeles, she has performed with such names as Spanish troupe Peña Andaluza en California, Acorde y Tacón, Flamenco Pasión, Corazón Flamenco, Embrujo de España, Canela Pura, Avaz International Dance,Viva la Fuente, Forever Flamenco, and La Rubia Productions.

The many venues where Yolanda has showcased her talent include the Fountain, Royce Hall, and Kaufman theatres; Castle Press Pasadena, El Patio, El Cid Restaurant, Bar-Celona, Glendale Community College, The Barnsdall, City of San Diego, and El Paseo Santa Barbara.

Yolanda has also been sponsored by the Consulate of Spain in Los Angeles, to perform at various California universities, including: UC Santa Barbara, UC San Francisco, UC Long Beach, and UCLA.

For the past 20 years Yolanda has manages her own dance academy in Los Angeles. Together with her husband Paco, they directed such flamenco troupes as Mosaico Andaluz, Caminos de España, Aires Flamencos, and Herencia Flamenca.

Visit flamencoarroyo.com

~~~
FANNY ARA began her dance studies at age three, studying ballet and Contemporary dance at the Irene Popard school located in St. Jean de Luz in the French Basque country. In 1991 she began training in Spanish classical dance with Catalina Gommes and for the next ten years she traveled regularly to Madrid to study with maestros Isabel Quintero and Antonio Najarro. In addition to her studies in dance, she studied piano at the Bayonne School of Art for 11 years. She attained a BA in literature with a specialty in music. After graduating from the Bayonne School of Art, she relocated to Sevilla and Madrid. Over the next two years there, she pursued intensive flamenco studies with Juana Amaya, El Torombo, Manolo Soler, Hiniesta Cortes. While in Spain, she was also accepted into the prestigious academy of Mario Maya, and worked in tablaos in Madrid (“Al Andalus” and “El Juglar”). Fanny has become an established and important performer in the Bay Area. As a company member of Caminos Flamencos, she has shared the theater stage with artists such as Antonio de la Malena, Manuel de la Malena, Juan Ogalla, Domingo Ortega, David Paniagua and Juñares.

In February 2012, Fanny has been awarded a prestigious finalist prize for Creative Promise In Dance by the Vilcek Foundation. Also in 2012, her latest project “Juncal Street”and herself  have been nominated in 3 categories by the Isadora Duncan Awards for Most Oustanding Music, Ensemble and Individual Performance.

Most recently, Fanny has performed for the Eva Longoria Foundation, at the George V in Paris with the grand pianist Diego Amador and at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles with the worldly known Antonio Carmona.

In 2015 Fanny was nominated by the Isadura Duncan Awards for Best Ensemble, in ‘ La Traviata” with the San Francisco Opera.

~~~

JOEY HEREDIA is a remarkable drummer who blends a multitude of styles, timing, and unbelievable skill to achieve a unique level of playing making him one of the best in the business. His credits include luminaries like Stevie Wonder, Sheila E, Sergio Mendez, Herb Alpert, Tania Maria, Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale, and Dianne Reeves.

Blessed with an incredible innate talent Joey was playing gigs before his 18th birthday. Most of these bands were Top-40 bands playing for primarily Latin audiences in East Los Angeles., This meant the bands usually included from 2 to 5 horns, a full rhythm section, and played Salsa too. When they didn’t have a full rhythm section Joey had to cover the timbale, conga, and cowbell parts. This came naturally to Joey, he’d grown up listening to the records his father would play and had started naturally imitating what he heard on the records on his kit.

The next step in Joey’s evolution as a drummer came when he met his “mentor” Steve Loza (keyboard player/trumpeter) a professor of ethnomusicology at UCLA and author of the book on music of the Barrio and Chicano/Mexican artists from East Los Angeles. He broadened Joey’s horizons by introducing him to jazz and classical music, changing Joey’s direction from wanting to be the famous drummer playing huge stadiums, to being a formidable jazz drummer. Steve also reinforced Joey’s father’s desire that Joey should formally study music.

With his fast growing reputation, both with Tania Maria and his session work, this quickly led to other remarkable gigs with artist like Sergio Mendez, Brazil 88, Scott Henderson, and Frank Gambale, firmly establishing Joey at the top of his chosen profession.

Joey has performed with Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale, Billy Childs, Gary Herbig, Freddie Ravel, Star Parodi, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Ciro Hurtado, Dianne Reeves, Diego Torres, Sabia, Tania Maria, Strunz & Farah, Louis Verdieu, MVP, Ricardo Silveira, Sonya Jason, Word of Mouth, Marco Mendoza, and many more.

KAI NAREZO: I learned flamenco the old-fashioned way – at the feet of great guitarists first in NY and then inevitably in Spain. I then spent hundreds of hours playing for dance classes and for every singer who would let me get close enough. I was lucky to have some amazing teachers – Dennis Koster in NY, who gave me a thorough foundation in what we now think of as old-school flamenco, and then in Granada, Spain, where I lived for two years, with Juan Fernandez, who brought me up to date and kicked my ass, and then later some truly amazing time with Enrique de Melchor who I never dreamed I’d actually get to study with.

Once I had already been making a living playing for a few years I decided I wanted to learn how to read and write music and expand my ears, so I got a BEST scholarship to Berklee College of Music, in Boston, had the time of my life, and learned the skills that would let me communicate with other musicians. Of course to make a living I played flamenco – gigging, teaching, and spending another thousand or so hours playing for dance classes, mostly for the legendary Ramon De Los Reyes (who bought me my first black suit).

Berklee didn’t turn me into a jazzer (though they tried), but it showed me that flamenco as an art form stands on its own, and helped me share my ideas with other players, who in turn teach me. A musical life worth living (for me) happens this way. I’m at home in flamenco and even though I’m an American I’m a bit of an expatriate living in the US as a flamenco guitarist and composer. And I’m grateful that I live in Los Angeles where I can play with the likes of Joey Heredia and Ric Fierabracci in my new project that I call The [Anti-Polka-Dot] Manifesto.