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| Artistic director and dancer Lia Grainger with Fin de Fiesta Flamenco brings the passion of the dance to Victoria in Sempiterno, a new production being staged July 17 at Hermann’s Jazz Club. Photo by Rodorodcom |
Fin de Fiesta Flamenco, a musical and dance group with Spanish and French influences, brings their original show Sempiterno to Hermann’s Jazz Club next week.
The July 17 show presents the coming together of artistic talents from around Europe and Canada for a hypnotic new production that explores the timeless yet ever-changing art form of flamenco.
The diverse group features artistic director and dancer Lia Grainger, who hails from Vancouver but now works out of the Amor de Dios studio in Madrid, as does flautist Lara Wong, an extraordinary improviser and accompanist.
Guitarist Dennis Duffin (Toronto) is based in Seville, the cradle of flamenco, where he composes and collaborates with flamenco artists from around the world. Singer Alejandro Mendía (Saint Lô, France) and his wife, dancer Deborah “La Caramelita” (Vancouver) make their home in Bordeaux, France, while percussionist Hanser Santos Gómez (Havana) has called Montreal home ever since emigrating from Cuba five years ago.
“As artists practicing a foreign craft in a foreign land, we bring a unique and perspective to the art form,” says Grainger, who has called Spain home for the past four years. “We seek to remain true to flamenco’s roots, but at the same time, we cannot help but be Canadian, French, Cuban — so we choose to embrace it.”
The group spent a year composing and choreographing this new work from their home-bases around the world, then assembled several times in Seville and Bordeaux to create the finished product. Sempiterno means “eternal” or “everlasting” — something that has no beginning and no end. It is the story of flamenco itself.
In Sempiterno, Fin de Fiesta tells the story of flamenco’s undefinable beginning and endless evolution. Searing vocals weave with rapid guitar arpeggios. Haunting flute melodies accent staccato footwork and earthy rhythms as skirts swirl and feet stomp.
Tickets for this 8 p.m. show are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. You can find them online at eventbrite.ca.
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