Annalouise Paul: Flamenco for Everybody
When:
Saturday 28 May, 2022. 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm
TICKETS:
Early Bird: $20: Follow ticket link & enter code: early bird (available until May 21)
Early Bird Concession: $15 Follow ticket link & enter code: early bird concession (available until May 21)
General Admission: $40 / Concession: $35
“Awakening us to a call to rise and lift our spirits.”
— Sydhwaney Sounds
On Saturday May 28, Tuggeranong Arts Centre invites you to discover the toe-tapping energy of Flamenco.
Flamenco for Everybody is a live performance by award-winning dancer Annalouise Paul and some of the country’s finest musicians. Poetry, percussion, Flamenco guitar, contemporary dance and the hypnotic hang come together in this visually theatrical and highly virtuosic show.
See and hear some of the very best in the country, with award-winning contemporary-flamenco dancer Annalouise Paul; Flamenco veteran Robbie Varga on guitar; Byron Mark on contemporary percussion and Angel Mellado singing authentic cante and poetry.
Share a collective narrative of resilience with regional communities who have faced the adverse effects of Covid-19. Through harsh drought and bushfires, unemployment and isolation, it is the very spirit of music and dance that uplifts and heals.
Organically grown during imposed lockdowns, Annalouise Paul was determined to dance. She found an outdoor community veranda and local wharf to practice on for the entire year. The connection with locals was strong. She met walkers, boaties, dogs and children and one little boy on a scooter who asked, ‘Are you making a show? For everybody?’ And a few months later a show was born.
Flamenco for Everybody is an exhilarating live performance of Flamenco and contemporary dance, languid guitar, Spanish poetry and high-energy percussion seamlessly woven into compelling storytelling.
SHOW SYNOPSIS
Flamenco for Everybody is a brave new show that shares a collective narrative of resilience with communities everywhere that have faced the adverse effects of Covid-19. Through harsh drought and bushfires, unemployment and isolation, it is the very spirit of music and dance that can uplift and heal.
Flamenco for Everybody is an exhilarating experience that opens with Annalouise sharing the story of how the show was made, using dance, sound design and video installation. This unfolds into a full live performance of languid Flamenco guitar, Spanish songs, poetry and high-energy percussion and harmonics seamlessly woven into the storytelling with contemporary-flamenco dance.
You’ll also hear about social, historical and cultural events that have shaped Flamenco over time from living traditions in Andalusia – the Roma, Sephardi, Arabic, African and Moorish cultures. Flamenco for Everybody is a community response of resilience and it is also highly innovative and energising fun. You’ll love to listen but by the end, you’ll want to get up and dance!
“What developed into a full fledged performance Flamenco forever – For Everybody. So when a carefully numbered socially distanced audience was welcomed to experience the joy of Flamenco in all its energetic foot tapping fury – it was unpassable.”
— Sydhwaney Sounds
“Eminent experienced artists and a fine vocalist with as gutsy a temperament as a powerful voice. It reverberated against the wooden walls of the old Drill Hall and bounced back awakening us to a call to rise and lifted our spirits.”
— Sydhwaney Sounds
The Story Behind the Show
Organically grown during Covid-19 lockdowns, Annalouise Paul was determined to practice. She found an outdoor community veranda and local wharf to dance on for the entire year. Connection with the locals was strong. She met walkers, boaties, dogs and children and one little boy on a scooter who asked, ‘Are you making a show? For everybody?’ And a few months later a show was born. Flamenco for Everybody was first presented inside a heritage-listed hall, The Drill in Rushcutters Bay. It was supported in part through Woollahra Council and a Critical Path space residency.
I loved “Flamenco For Everybody”. Especially as a response to Covid-19. It emphasises inclusiveness at a time when so many things are the opposite, in isolation, is just wonderful.
— Audience member
Regional Micro Tours
Micro Tours is an innovative new responsive, lean model that allows us to be based in one regional area at a time. Being immersed in one place longer it deepens the engagement for communities with the work itself, and our artists. The six person touring party forges this new sustainable model that supports the creative team and regional partners alike. Comfortably achieved travelling from Greater Sydney for 2-5 days. It is a sustainable model for touring that sensibly manages Australia’s long distances and mitigates risk, for example, in the case of a sudden Covid-19 closure in one town, the rest of the tour can continue without cancellation. We love that!
CREATIVES
Artistic Direction | Annalouise Paul
Performing Artists | Byron Mark, Annalouise Paul, Robbie Varga and Angel Mellado
Creative Production | Future Shock, Brigid O’Sullivan
Duration | 60 minutes, no interval.
PARTNERS
Create NSW, Destination NSW, Sydney Solstice, Eastside Sydney, Parramatta City Council, Woollahra Council, Critical Path, Dance Domain Studios, Australian Institute of Music
READ FULL REVIEW BY SYDHWANEY SOUNDS
ARTISTS BIOS:
ANGEL MELLADO
Ángel Mellado ‘El Brujo’ started singing on the streets of Madrid as a young Gitano teen. He won a major competition which led to a 6-year theatrical contract touring throughout Spain. In 1962, he migrated to Australia where he performed as a Flamenco guitarist and singer in a wide range of shows from classical to popular Spanish music, Latin American songs, and Flamenco. Angel has performed throughout Australia including appearances on Melbourne Tonight, ABC, The Bobby Limb Show, Mike Walsh, and the Nureyev film of ‘Don Quixote’ starring Sir Robert Helpmann. Stage work includes a residency at The Menzies Hotel Sydney, Opera Australia, and the opening of two of Sydney’s premiere Spanish clubs. In Melbourne, Angel performed for 10 years at “The Bull Ring”. For the past 25 years he has headlined the “Colmao Flamenco “show in Fitzroy. Angel writes own Flamenco lyrics, romances and cantes and has worked with a stellar list of Australian and international Flamenco dance artists.
BYRON MARK
Byron Mark is a professional pianist, percussionist, and composer, with 18 years of live performance experience in Australia, and internationally. His depth of knowledge in many musical styles allows him to collaborate with numerous different artists; spanning flamenco and jazz; to classical and Pop. Byron’s debut solo release ‘Amalgamation’ earned him top 5 in Australia for Instrumental Composition at the MusicOz Awards 2016. His latest project ‘Odyssey’ explores the sonic possibilities when combining a traditional string quartet arrangement together with piano, cajon and tabla; set for release on vinyl in June 2022.
ANNALOUISE PAUL
Annalouise Paul is a choreographer, dancer and actor who creates work inspired by histories, diasporas and ancestries of living traditions. Flamenco culture is where she specifically explores her Sephardi ancestry. Trained in Contemporary dance at the Laban Centre, London and with major Flamenco maestros in Madrid and Sevilla. In her early career, Annalouise danced for Michael Jackson, Los Angeles Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera, Bill T. Jones Co. and Antonio Vargas Co. She was invited to perform a flamenco solo at 2005 Australian Dance Awards at the Sydney Opera House. Annalouise won the 2013 Australian Arts in Asia Award in Dance and NSW Premier’s Export Scholarship for international touring to India. Recent works include Mother Tongue, Forge, Isabel, Game on and Salón Flamenco, a new platform that showcases Australian flamenco artists experimenting within the genre. Annalouise was the 2019 Asialink artist at Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia and will return to Malaysia to commence a new work for George Town Festival in 2022.
ROBBIE VARGA
Robbie Varga ’El Chispa’ is an Australian master of the contemporary flamenco guitar who has performed and toured with Australia’s most distinguished flamenco artists and companies such as Madrid-based dancer-choreographer Gabriel Heredia in Laberinto, Antonio Vargas Flamenco Theatre Company and Diana Reyes Flamenco. His career spans more than four decades and includes periods of intensive study in Madrid with leading flamenco guitarists including Juan Machón and Juan Maya Marote and early training in Australia with acclaimed guitarist Tony Morrison. Robert has collaborated on many fusion shows working with sarod virtuoso Ashok Roy, world percussionist Peter Kennard and award-winning tabla player Bobby Singh, (late) saxophonist Kim Sanders, Mathew Doyle and the Ngarau Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dance Company and in Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker. In 2008, Robbie created and performed original compositions for Annalouise Paul’s Isabel at Riverside Theatres Parramatta and Campbelltown Arts Centre supported by Australia Council and Create NSW.
Partners:
Funding Agencies: Create NSW, Parramatta City, Council, Woollahra Council,
Venue Partners: Critical Path, 1880 Anglican Parish, Stonewall Hotel, Australian Institute of Music, Danceomain.
Marketing Partners: Destination NSW, Sydney Solstice, Eastside Sydney, Paddington Fine Wines.