Guelph Dance Festival 2013 Sneak Peek: Ritmo Flamenco

In the weeks leading up to Guelph Dance Festival 2013, some of the amazing dance artists who will perform at the Festival will also share their vision with us here on the blog. These intimate, behind-the-scenes looks will bring us closer to the artistry, process, and experience of dance. We encourage you to not just read these amazing stories, but to ask questions or engage in conversation about dance in our comments section below. Welcome to our 15^th anniversary year!

Choreographer Anjelica Scannura speaks with us today. Ritmo Flamenco performs at our In the Park series on Thursday May 30, 7pm, and Saturday, June 1 and Sunday June 2, at noon, Exhibition Park. Pay-what-you-can (suggested donation: $15).

Anjelica: My company—Ritmo Flamenco—and I have been excited by the challenges that face us for our upcoming performances that are a part of the In The Park series at the highly-anticipated Guelph Dance Festival.  It will be a thrill to dance for the vast audience that the In The Park series attracts.

Ritmo Flamenco. Photo: Peter Lear

I’m changing some of the choreography to capitalize on the outdoor setting.  The three dancers will strive to achieve a bolder approach, capitalizing on the audience’s close proximity.  Because of the piece being stripped through removing the fourth wall, it will be more emotional for audience and dancer.

 

Ritmo Flamenco. Photo: Peter Lear

Outside of the sometimes inhibiting settings of performing on a stage with theatrical lighting, the choreography will flourish in all of its splendor.  The relationships between the dancers will be raw, and it’ll be a refreshing experience as a dancer and choreographer to work in a boundless and natural environment.  

 

Ritmo Flamenco. Photo: Peter Lear

Anjelica Scannura has been dancing her whole life, as her parents Valerie and Roger Scannura are founders of one of Canada’s most preeminent flamenco companies, Ritmo Flamenco. She has been travelling to Spain since she was young to absorb the nuances of authentic flamenco. A recipient of the Chalmers Award in 2011 and the Paula Citron FRESH BLOOD award winnder for 2012, she has built an impressive repertoire of solo works and ensemble pieces. She is looking forward to premiering a new show for Harbourfront’s NextSteps 2013/14 season. Paula Citron from the Globe and Mail stated, “Scannura is developing her own hybrid and she is truly a representative of Canadian dance.” 

ritmoflamenco.ca

Ritmo Flamenco Heats Up UofG Centre Courtyard

Ritmo Flamenco will be performing in Guelph this week as Guelph Dance and Central Student Association (CSA) partner to present another CSA Nooner at University of Guelph, Centre Courtyard. Join us for this beautiful celebration of dance on Friday, March 22, 12pm. Free.

Angelica Scanurra, dancer and choreographer, talks here about the fine art of bringing flamenco and contemporary dance together.

Angelica: My mother (Valerie’s) most recent work entitled A Paso Lento was created for Ritmo Flamenco’s most recent production Vida Flamenca that was held at the Al Green Theatre in April 2012, and my most recent work Sombras de Locura (Shadows of Madness) was created for Dance Ontario’s DanceWeekend 2013 in honour of the 100^th anniversary of Stravinsky’s work Rite of Spring. Both works are very different; you can see tradition, structure and wisdom rooted in Valerie’s piece. It is exactly the type of dancing you will see in a tablao in Spain—namely Madrid, right now. The flamenco guitar by Roger Scannura is also an intrinsic part of flamenco that shows the synchronicity of music and dance.  Roger is able to accompany the dance in a way that inspires us to go beyond our boundaries in both technique and expression. Traditional flamenco was always performed in intimate settings and sometimes just listening to Roger’s masterful playing of flamenco solos is deep and soulful for any audience of any theatre setting.

The goal for my piece was to do something that I was sure had never been done before.  Rite of Spring was always a very inspiring piece of music to me. It’s anti-Flamenco in a sense, because the time signature changes every 5 bars, if you’re lucky. I knew that the power of Flamenco mixed with the strong dynamics of Rite of Spring would concoct something that spanned the whole spectrum of emotions, for the dancer and viewer alike. Most Flamenco companies in Spain right now are becoming more contemporary, abandoning traditional attire and music to create a movement vocabulary that welcomes diversity and experimentation.

At the end of the day, the thing that makes me the happiest is the fact that I get to perform my works and have them be seen. I also love the idea of getting more acquainted with my creation through repetition. The dancers that I worked with are Sachi O’Hoski and Laura Lelievre. Both of them have strong contemporary technique as well as flamenco, which allowed me the freedom to use them as muses and mirrors, as they were representing my alter egos. The pieces are so layered that I discovered something new every time I rehearsed and performed this piece. I feel that it was therapeutic in its invigoration and that no other previous dance piece I performed has ever made me feel this way.  We wanted to use wide, flowing dresses that resembled both traditional and a contemporary “Martha Graham” influence. I am actually a huge of fan of Martha Graham in her ability to delve into the darker side of humanity in such a display of strength and fragility that totally reveals the frailty of existence. I hope to continue along this path of discovery through my dance pieces and look forward to my next creation!

Dance is the thing for me where I feel completely in control and out of control all at once. It helps me to express myself more effectively. One of the greatest joys in my life is evoking a thought, feeling, question or emotion in my audience; whether they were enlightened by a subconscious message that was woven into the choreography or if I simply enabled them to abandon day-to-day life for an hour.

All information regarding upcoming events, classes and performances by Anjelica Scannura, Valerie Scannura and Ritmo Flamenco can be found at www.anjelicascannura.com and www.ritmoflamenco.ca

You can find up-to-date info about them through their Facebook pages by searching Anjelica Scannura or Ritmo Flamenco.