Contributed Article

The Gila Valley Arts Council announces the upcoming encore performance of the exciting flamenco dance duo Flamenco Del Sol on Wednesday, March 3, 7:30 p.m. at Eastern Arizona College Lee Little Theater.

Adult tickets are $15 and student tickets are $5. Advance tickets are available at Richards Music/Radio Shack and the Graham County Chamber of Commerce. All remaining tickets will be sold at the door.

The Gila Valley Arts Council announces, the upcoming encore performance of the exciting flamenco dance duo Flamenco Del Sol on Wednesday, March 3, 7:30 p.m. at Eastern Arizona College Lee Little Theater. Adult tickets are $15 and students are $5. Advance tickets are available at Richards Music/Radio Shack and the Graham County Chamber of Commerce. All remaining tickets will be sold at the door. Contributed photo

This is the first time that the Gila Valley Arts Council has brought Spanish flamenco dance to this area, so if you've never had the chance to see and hear the fantastic artistry of real flamenco dance from Spain, don't miss this opportunity.

An exciting group of outstanding and accomplished Spanish dancers, their experiences as professional dancers have taken them to performance venues throughout California and the Southwest, and to the ancient studios of Spain to learn from the very finest Spanish dance instructors in the world.

At a recent Gold Canyon Arts Council’s Canyon Festival, the packed audience was very enthusiastic about the performance. "Viva Espana: A Journey Through Spain" is the group's signature program. Participants join the dancers for a vicarious viaje (trip) around various provinces of the country. The show includes regional Spanish folk dances and classical numbers, as well as flamenco. The educational information interwoven with the dances is entertaining, lighthearted and fun. Whether the audience is made up of kids or kids at heart, everyone is encouraged to interact with jaleo (shouts) to encourage the dancers and palmas (clapping) to keep the rhythm and generate energy.

While in the schools they show how to play castanets and welcome the children to join in for a rumba.

The Flamenco Del Sol dancers will be accompanied by the live flamenco guitar music of Miguel Rodriguez, who will provide the traditional complement to an authentic flamenco dance performance.

Traditional flamenco artists never received any formal training: they learned by listening and watching relatives, friends and neighbors. Some artists are still self-taught, but these days, it is more common for dancers and guitarists (and sometimes even singers) to be professionally trained. Some guitarists can even read music and study other styles like classical guitar or jazz, and many dancers take courses in contemporary dance or classical Spanish ballet as well as flamenco.

The most traditional form of flamenco is the juerga, an informal, spontaneous gypsy gathering (rather like a jazz "jam session"). This can include dancing, singing, palmas or simply pounding in rhythm on an old orange crate or a table. Flamenco, in this context, is organic and dynamic: It adapts to the local talent, instrumentation and mood of the audience. One tradition remains firmly in place: The cantaores (singers) are the heart and soul of the performance.

In addition to Flamenco Del Sol's Wednesday night show, the group will also be conducting numerous seminars in public and private schools for children. Some of the schools will send students to a special daytime performance at the college, which is not open to the public. The dancers will also visit schools in Greenlee County as part of their extensive stay in the area.

The Gila Valley Arts Council wishes to thank the many supporters, all of the individual and business Arts Council members and major contributors, including Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, the Graham County Board of Supervisors, the United Way of Graham County and the Graham County Community Foundation, who make this all possible by their financial support. This performance is also supported in part by the Arizona Commission on the Arts with funding from the state of Arizona and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information visit the Web site, www.gvac.org.