Oak Cliff nonprofit Flamenco Fever’s insightful Fusion Series will present Tres Artes: Pintura, Poesia y Pasion – The Painter and the Poet, a story of Forbidden Love on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Annette Strauss Square in the Dallas Arts District, located at 2403 Flora St, Dallas, TX 75201. Tickets are on sale at attpac.org.
As part of the 2024 season of Elevator Project at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, the performance features internationally renowned musicians and dancers along with local artists taking the stage to tell the tragic love story of painter Salvador Dalí and martyred Spanish poet, playwright and flamenco aficionado, Federico Garcia Lorca. Featuring conceptual choreography, elegant costuming and incredible live music, the work delves deeply into the provocative history of Spain and the rise of Surrealism, the LGBTQ community and the Fascist Franconian Regime in the early 20th century. War scene pyrotechnics are provided by Fempyre.
Pintura, Poesia y Pasion combines four dynamic art forms – live music, dance, the visual art of Rolando Diaz and the recitation of Garcia Lorca’s poetry – into an unforgettable performance. In this sophisticated evening, Diaz will visually capture the vibrant essence of the flamenco arts on canvas by utilizing line and color, while exploring and capturing the parallels of political and social oppression throughout history.
Directed by Flamenco Fever founder Julia Alcantara, the production features an acclaimed cast including Joseph Gonzales as Salvador Dali, Jorge Robledo as Federico Garcia Lorca, and Julia Alcantara as Lorca's friend, La Argentinita. Providing musical accompaniment is Marcos Bastian (singer and Guitarist) and Luckie ‘Abejorro’ (performing on guitar, cajon and baile).
Flamenco Fever produces nearly 70 performances annually, each accompanied by requisite live music. The dance troupe landed Dallas on the world map during the summer of 2023 when they were the first American company in Spanish history to be invited to perform at the prestigious Festival Flamenco Internacional in Malaga, Spain. Flamenco Fever arranged for the entire cast of "Memorias Flamencas" to perform in Spain, the birthplace of flamenco, and to collaborate with some of the genre’s greatest artists.
Tickets are $29.50 each at attpac.org. For more information, go to flamencofever.org.
THE CAST:
JORGE ROBLEDO – BAILAOR AS "FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA"
Robledo, who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina has been principal dancer for numerous performances in Spain and around the world. He has created and choreographed his own shows, including “Latidos,” “Flamenco Entre Amigos” and “Encuentro Flamenco.” During his youth, he studied Spanish dance, classical ballet, jazz and modern dance. He later studied flamenco and classical Spanish dance in Spain and the U.S. with such prominent dancers as Antonio Canales, Belén Maya, Antonio Granjero, Juana Amaya and Nacho Blanco. Robledo has been professor of dance for several years at the Vladimir Issaev Ballet School and Roxy Performing Arts, both in Miami, Florida.
JOSEPH GONZALES – BAILAOR AS "SALVADOR DALI"
Joseph Gonzales was born in Albuquerque, NM. He studied percussion in high school and entered into the flamenco world during his college years at the University of New Mexico. During his time at the university he studied dance, theory and history. It was then he became deeply connected to the flamenco community and his own ancestral Spanish roots. Joseph has performed with Ida y Vuelta Flamenco numerous times since 1997 and his talents have since taken him across the U.S., dancing ballroom, ballet and country/western. He has competed and performed all over the U.S. and is currently ranked third in the world with his professional dance partner, Brenda Lamon.
JULIA ALCANTARA – DIRECTOR/PRODUCER AS LORCA'S FRIEND "LA ARGENTINITA”
Alcantara has been bringing the best of flamenco music and dance to North Texas since 1998. She performed in The Dallas Opera’s production of La Vida Breve at the Palace Theater for the Performing Arts in San Francisco and the World Cup Opening Ceremonies, Spain vs South Korea. Alcantara interpreted Ravel’s Bolero for the Irving Symphony Orchestra in their “Dallas Treasures” concert. She was the first and only American producer to be invited to take an entire production to the birthplace of Flamenco. Last summer, she took her entire cast of "Memorias Flamencas" to Spain to collaborate with some of flamenco's greatest artists.
MARCOS BASTIAN SINGER/GUITARIST
Bastian was born in Sevilla into a family of flamenco artists. At the age of 8 he entered the Alcalá de Guadaira Conservatory to study classical music. He holds an intermediate degree as a cantaor at the Cristóbal de Morales Conservatory and has been working throughout Spain since he was 15 years old in tablaos and theaters. He has toured across Spain and Europe performing in Finland and DuBai with artists like La Tania, David “El Galli”, Antonio Marseille and Ezequiel Reina.
LUCKIE ‘ABEJORRO’ – GUITAR, CAJON AND BAILE
Abejorro is a key artistic support to the Flamenco Fever. His experience as a musician covers more than 20 years of guitar, bass and hand percussion. Since 2015, he has learned the basics of each type of flamenco palo by accompanying the dancers on cajon, then dancing for five years until he finally dove into guitar with the various guest artists that have come to teach over the years. After nine years of study, he made his debut last year as Dallas’ newest flamenco guitarist accompanying singing and dancing for Sevillanas, Tangos, Alegrias, Tientos, Guajira and various Villancicos during the holiday season.