Sara Baras, a renowned flamenco dancer from Spain and her company will be performing in the Esplanade Theatre on Fri 10 Jan and Sat 11 Jan 2025.

In conjunction with this show, Esplanade Theatre  has invited me to curate and produce 3 days of programmes for their Flamenco weekend on Fri 10 Jan, Sat 11 Jan and Sun 12 Jan  2025.

I) Performances by our local SG community

Besides international artists, I’m glad that our own local community can be involved, by giving impact, excitement and multiplying the flamenco action.

All programmes are free to audiences.

Invited artists from Spain

Our Singapore-based dancers will be accompanied by the live music of a highly experienced singer and guitarist I’ve invited from Spain – Mercedes Cortés and Jordi Flores. (Some of you might recall Mercedes. She was the amazing singer for Marco Flores and Olga Pericet in the show I produced at Capitol Theatre).

• Soloists – Dancers/Teachers who already have regular solo experience. 
• You have your own solo palos, and are ready anytime to perform it.
• You are also quite / very comfortable working with LIVE cante and guitarra. 
• You are familiar with, and understand the concepts of  flamenco communication and codes, as well as how to listen to a flamenco song to adapt your dance..
• This enables you to dance with a touch of spontaneity with the singer and guitarist, with minimum rehearsals, the way we do so in flamenco tablaos.

Platforms 

• Experienced solo dancers can join the shows on any, or all of the 3 days.
• For example, you can present one dance on Fri 10 Jan, a different second dance on Sat 11 Jan, and participate in the por fiesta Tangos & Bulerias on Sun 12 Jan.
• The platform of 10 & 11 Jan can take up till 5 – 6 dancers (combination of experienced and emerging dancers)

How to join Category #1 

• Please contact me if you are keen. 
• Concurrently,  I’ll also be actively inviting some of you whom I already know who can join this category.
• We’ll discuss which palos you’d like to perform, so that I can see which palos fit into the 3 different themes.  

• I’m also keen to give platforms to, and to develop emerging soloists.
• These are dancers who have not yet been performing regularly as soloists but have the capacity to do so and are keen to grow their flamenco experience.
• You have a dance and you know your work well enough to dance it on your own.
• It may still be rough and raw. But you are willing to put time into training independently within this month, with feedback & guidance from Tania,  so that you can be performance ready for January. 
• While you may have a base of dance experience, you have a beginner’s exposure to flamenco communication, understanding flamenco cante and how to dance to the spontaneity of a singer and guitarist, live time.
• (Note. As a guide, if you took Manuel Betanzos’ Flamenco Tablao Coaching workshops in June 2024 this year in Singapore,  you can enter this category.)

Platforms 

• I recommend that emerging solo dancers focus their training on just one main dance for either Fri 10 Jan or Sat 11 Jan. 
• You can also participate in the festive Sun 12 Jan if you are confident of por fiesta Tangos or Bulerias (after taking the masterclass by our Spanish artists. See below for dates)
• The platform of 10 & 11 Jan can take up till 5 – 6 dancers (combination of experienced and emerging dancers)

How to join Category #2

• Please consult me if you are keen and would like to discuss if you fit here.
• We’ll discuss the  palo you propose so that I can programme it into the themes of the day.
• You’ll need to be independent and have initiative to do self-practice if you wish to grow as an emerging soloist. Plan your training sessions and proactively keep me informed about your progress. You can tap on me for close guidance or feedback along the way. 

Performance Platform:

• You can join Sun 12 January, which has a festive theme.
• Suitable dance items to participate in would be  the (1) por fiesta Tangos or (2) Sevillanas.

(1) How to join the por fiesta Tangos

Most students do not know much about ‘por fiesta’ dances, so here is a series of preparatory activities, so you can learn progressively.

Requisites: To join por fiesta Tangos, dancers should have flamenco foundation and had exposure to dancing Tangos (this could have been in a group setting, for eg)

Stage 1

• Join a short Tangos workshop with Tania, to receive Tangos material and an introduction to what por fiesta Tangos is.
• Contact me to express interest so I can coordinate schedules.
• Workshop fees apply

• You can also have reference to the MAESTROS Flamenco video courses I produced with Manuel Betanzos.
• There is a free course, with 3 lessons on the Tangos de Triana which give a glimpse into flamenco communication (you need to know this when dancing ‘por fiesta’ style).
• Click here, sign up for free account and course ‘Understanding Live Flamenco’

Stage 2 

• Go on to join the master workshop conducted by our singer and guitarist from Spain.
• Please avail yourself for the possible workshop dates (Tue 7 Jan, Wed 8 Jan, Thu 9 Jan evenings from 7pm – 10pm). Schedule will be confirmed by 15 Dec.
• These open master workshops will focus on the Tangos, the Bulerias respectively with a unique and specific focus to train dancers on i) how to listen to Tangos cante  ii)
• Here, you will learn to experiment with the Tangos material you earlier received in Stage 1.
• Master workshop fees apply

Stage 3

• Go on to participate in the Tangos performance on Sun 12 January. 
• This will be curated according to your capacity.
•  Those who are confident of doing a little solo ‘pataita’ can try doing so spontaneously.
• For those who are not so sure yet, I can look at staging it.

To participate in the Sevillanas, here are some suggestions

• If you already have experience and are confident in performing Sevillanas (self-check that you can dance in rhythm and understand where to do your pasadas), you are ready to join Sun 12 Jan. You just need to avail yourself for one or two combined rehearsals.

• If you need a review and brush up of the choreography, as well as to improve your arms, posture, turns, and to reassure yourself of when to do your pasadas, then you can either
  • Join a mini-workshop with Tania (see schedule below)
  • Practise with your own dance mates who know it
  • Ask your teacher to revise it with you.

Platform: Sunday 12 Jan, 4.30pm & 6.30pm

• You can join the interactive segments of the performances as a ‘dance khaki’.
•  Dance khakis are part of the audience and they help in encouraging the audience to dance. 
• Dancers on stage will lead the interactive elements, for both dance khakis and audiences to follow. 
• It’s a fun and easy way to be involved. 

I open the platform to you as a way of a flamenco cultural trip to Singapore. This could be an enriching occasion whether you are an independent dancer or teacher looking for learning experiences for your dancers.

Here, you can get to immerse yourself with a community, make friends and learn from different flamenco experiences. You’ll also enjoy being part of the activities of our lovely national theatre, Esplanade.

There is no honorarium. Instead, the value lies in the learning and unique experiences. You can benefit from rehearsing and performing with highly experienced singer and guitarist.

Platform

• The shows on Fri 10 Jan and Sat 11 Jan can only accommodate a limited number of performers, so (for now) the more feasible platform would be Sun 12 Jan (fiesta theme)

How to prepare

• Join the masterclasses for por fiesta Tangos & Bulerias, along with Singapore dancers preparing for their performance for Sun 12 Jan.
• You should therefore be prepared to be in Singapore for a couple of days. Be prepared to be independent in Singapore. But I will help you find accommodation options.

Typically flamenco workshops have focused on choreography and taught by dance maestros. I’d like to offer you an additional perspective and different approach to enrich your flamenco.

To dance to live, spontaneous music, you need to understand flamenco from the perspective of song & guitar.

So these masterclasses 100% focus on how teaching you to understand your dance in relation to flamenco cante and guitarra.

You will be taught by Mercedes and Jordi, who are a ‘different breed’ of musician, in that they have years of experience teaching dancers. Both have been teaching Flamenco Lab in Turin yearly, as well as accompanying dancers in the prestigious Turin de la Frontera International Flamenco Competition hosted by the Festival de Jerez.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• The masterclasses double up as rehearsals for the Por Fiesta shows on Sun 12 Jan. So those who aim to perform on 12 Jan should get as much Por Fiesta training as possible.

• Whether or not you are performing, these will be an invaluable masterclasses to take. Open to all levels of dancers.

• In Part 1, Mercedes & Jordi will teach you how to understand dance in relation to song & guitar. We even learn to sing, to understand the nuances to dance to.  

• Part 2 is the fun practical part! Here’s where we experiment (be fearless!), do rounds of short dances, and get direct feedback.

Please contact Tania if you are keen to join.

There are 3 days of shows at the Esplanade Upper Concourse stage.

I would like each day to have a different artistic theme, so that we can share the rich diversity and cultural influences shaping our flamenco art.

Friday 10 January (Show Day #1)

• 4.15pm – 5.45pm(1.5h) Sound check & spacing
• 6.15pm – 6.45pm (30 min) (Programme 1 – Dancing the Story)
• 7.15 – 7.45pm (30 min) (Programme 1 – Dancing the Story)
• For this show, we’ll highlighting dances which delight us with the stories of their letras.
• Think about what your flamenco dance letra says, find inspiration to express them artistically.

Sat 11 January (Show Day #2)

• 4.15pm – 5.45pm (1.5h) Sound check & spacing
• 6.15pm – 6.45pm (30 min) (Programme 2 – Voyage: Spain through Flamenco Dance)
• 7.15 – 7.45pm (30 min) (Programme 2 – Voyage: Spain through Flamenco Dance)
• For this show, we’ll highlight dances which evoke the flamenco culture of their place & origin

Sun 12 Jan (Show Day #3)

• 1.30pm – 3.00pm (1.5h) Sound check & spacing
• 4.30pm – 5.15pm (30 min) (Programme 3 – Fiesta Flamenca!)
• 6.30pm – 7.15 pm (30 min) (Programme 3 – Fiesta Flamenca!)
• For this show, we’ll highlight the fiesta dances we typically dance in Spain.
• Examples are: Tangos por Fiesta,  Bulerias por Fiesta and Sevillanas. We share the spirit and spontaneity. 

IMPORTANT!

Besides the show schedule above, please refer to the live Google schedule as it has details of soloist rehearsals, full run rehearsals as well as masterclasses with the Spanish musicians (to prepare participants for the festive 3rd day performances)

Here are the publicity links to the shows, so that you can read the artistic theme and focus of each 3 day.

The photos are  preliminary. Once the performers are cast and we have more details, please submit to Tania 1-2 photos and a short bio, so we can update the site.

Participating schools will be acknowledged. 

Link to Fri 10 jan

https://www.esplanade.com/whats-on/festivals-and-series/series/dans-focus/events/flamenco-dancing-the-story#synopsis

Link to Sat 11 Jan

https://www.esplanade.com/whats-on/festivals-and-series/series/dans-focus/events/voyage-spain-through-flamenco-dance

Link to Sun 12 Jan

https://www.esplanade.com/whats-on/festivals-and-series/series/dans-focus/events/fiesta-flamenca

For Category #1 and #2 dancers

You can benefit from rehearsing to live cante and guitarra, and practicising flamenco communication.

Such rehearsals give us more experience and any opportunity we have in Singapore is appreciated.

1. Primary support – I will provide you with an honorarium. This is to be fully directed to cover your solo rehearsals with the musicians for the Fri 10 Jan and Sat 11 Jan shows.

2. On top of this, I will allocate performers self-rehearsal space at the Esplanade studio during the week of the show (on Mon 6th, Tue 7th, Wed 8th January). For combined rehearsals, space is provided of course.

For overseas dancers

Please note that there is no honorarium.

I open the platform to you as a way of a flamenco cultural trip to Singapore. Here, you can get to know our community, make friends, learn from different flamenco experiences.

You can benefit from rehearsing and performing with highly experienced singer and guitarist. And we know this is always to be valued because it is not easy to have this chance of learning with live cante & guitarra.