February 14, 2008

Noche Flamenca to bring authentic Spanish dance to Purdue stage

Noche Flamenca
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Purdue Convocations is presenting the performance as part of its World Stage series. Convocations also will present a preshow discussion with Martín Santangelo, Noche Flamenca's founder and artistic director, who will discuss the three elements of flamenco - dance, song and music - at 7 p.m. Feb. 29 in Stewart Center, Room 318. 

"While the world flamenco may conjure images of flashy costumes and fast, fancy footwork, flamenco in its truest expression is an earthy, expressive marriage of dance, song and music that is at once soulful and seductive, rough and raw," said Todd Wetzel, director of Purdue Convocations.

Santangelo described the flamenco as a rebel song.

"Flamenco expresses all kinds of emotions, but it can be very tragic and desperate," he said. "It's kind of like life at its limits."

The performance will feature Soledad Barrio, Santangelo's wife and a founding member of Noche Flamenca. Barrio has won awards from 12 different countries around the globe for her dancing and is known for her dramatic, fervent style, especially in tragic dances, Wetzel said.

"Originating in Andalucia, a region in southern Spain, flamenco arose from the persecution of Jews, Moors and Gypsies following the Spanish Inquisition," Wetzel said. "Flamenco compares to American blues music in that it eschews showy pretenses and digs deep into the human psyche to uncover true emotion including anger, fear, repression, desperation and sorrow."

Noche Flamenca was founded in 1993 as a way to maintain the essence, purity and integrity of flamenco without the use of tricks or gimmicks, he said. Critics have hailed the group for its emotional performances.

During the group's performances, all aspects of flamenco – dance, song and music – are interrelated and given an equal weight, which creates a true communal spirit within the company, Wetzel said.

While the singers are the protagonists in the program, the dancers emphasize the emotion and theatricality.

"The dancer is the pure emotional expression of the lyrics," Santangelo said. "It's the body expressing emotional or ceremonial needs."

While part of the Purdue performance will include centuries-old flamenco songs, the program also will feature a new work by Santangelo inspired by Henrik Ibsen's "The Lady from the Sea," a story about one woman's struggle for inner truth, personal freedom and, ultimately, a chosen love. The piece is sung in Spanish and accompanied by guitar and dancers.

Members of the public are invited to a flamenco demonstration with Santangelo and Barrio at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts, Room 2164. This interactive lecture and demonstration is open to people of all skill levels and will be followed by an informal social gathering.

Tickets for Noche Flamenca are $26 for adults and $19 for children 18 years and younger, and Purdue and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. They are available at the Elliott Hall and Stewart Center box offices at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster outlets.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Sources: Kerry Schutt Nason, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, (765) 494-5045, knason@purdue.edu

Todd Wetzel, director of Purdue Convocations, (765) 494-9712, tewetzel@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Publication-quality photos of Noche Flamenca are available at https://www.purdue.edu/convos/
nocheflamencaimages.shtml

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