A top American dance company, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, will perform tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts main stage, opening the University of Wyoming Presents acts for the spring semester.
The group was founded in 1983, serving more than 45,000 people nationwide each year, and has performed at 73 venues in 27 states, including other universities, leading theaters and underserved communities.
“Flamenco Vivo is committed to creating an environment for the growth of flamenco across the United States,” Carlota Santana, the founder and artistic director of Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, wrote in an email to the Branding Iron. “Our mission is to promote flamenco as a living art form and a vital part of Hispanic heritage; produce and perform high quality dance works; provide arts education programs that catalyze connections among young people; and nurture the next generations of Spanish dance artists and educators.”
With roots in Indian, Arabic and Spanish culture, Flamenco is a dance style characterized by sweeping arm, hand and body movements, rhythmic stomping and hand clapping. Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana takes inspiration from additional cultures, including Jewish, Gypsy and Latin American cultures, to connect with diverse audiences with their art.
The group will perform an excerpt from “Mujeres Valientes,” which means Valient Woman, and educate the audience about 19th-century South American revolutionary Manuela Sáenz. A collaborator of Simón Bolívar, Manuela is now recognized as a feminist symbol of the independence struggles from Spain.
With their first performance at UW, the company hopes the audience will feel inspired by the pride and power expressed by the artists on stage.
“Flamenco is about standing up tall, being proud of who you are and expressing your inner feelings,” Santana said.
Attendees can expect a wide range of traditional and spontaneous solos as well as narrative-style contemporary dance theatre works.
In addition to performing, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana runs an art education program called Project Olé that serves disadvantaged youth and economically challenged communities. The project has special initiatives for immigrant populations and other dual language learners, as well as young people with disabilities.
“We always say that flamenco offers something for everyone because the artists are expressing the full range of human emotion from happiness and love to loneliness and anger and everything in between!” Santana said. “These are feelings we can all relate to regardless of our age, background or culture and a common thread that connects us all.”
Tickets are $20 for the public, $17 for faculty, staff and senior citizens and $10 for students. Tickets are available at the Performing Arts box office and the Wyoming Union information desk. Tickets can be purchased by calling 307-766-6666 or going online at UWyo.edu/finearts. For more information about Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, visit Flamenco-Vivo.org.
