Easy Español
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News
Read what's happening at Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana.
North Carolina
Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company was founded in 1983 with the following mission: to promote flamenco/Spanish dance as a living art form and a vital part of Hispanic heritage, produce quality dance works and provide arts education programs that catalyze connections among young people and nurture the next generation of Spanish dance artists and educators.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2013, Carlota Santana’s Spanish dance company is known for its innovative performances, extensive community-based initiatives, and in-depth arts education programs. Artists from the U.S. and Spain make up the company and reflect its core goals: fostering a cross-cultural form of expression, preserving the tradition of Spanish dance, and guiding this art form’s modern evolution.
The Company has been honored to be part of cARTwheels a program of the NCAC which takes performing companies to various venues to perform for 300 students daily.
In 2011 The Company organized the First Festival Flamenco in Durham County which brings our communities together thru our art form. Free performances were held at Holton Center, Hayti Cultural Center and Nasher Musuem----2012 will see the 2nd annual Festival Flamenco throughout Durham County.
Over the ten years that the Company has been based in North Carolina they have completed numerous residency programs in rural counties throughout the state including Graham, Columbia, Pender and Greene Counties as well as many others.
Activities include: Full-evening performances featuring 8-12 artists, suitable for theatre venues with all live music accompaniment. For booking contact Baylin Artists
Condensed Performances by our professional artists include smaller-scale 50-minute performances by four artists. These performances can be done in museums, private homes or schools. All shows feature live music and are appropriate for all ages.
In-School Educational Programs - Multi-week, community-based educational residencies teach Spanish/Hispanic history, culture, and language using flamenco dance as the focal point, and are accompanied by curriculum materials. Age-specific residencies for grades K–12 are taught by teaching artists, and include a guitarist and singer and a final student performance. Additional activities include lecture-demonstrations, participatory family or student workshops, and master classes.
Carlota Santana - Founder & Artistic Director
Carlota Santana has been designated "The Keeper Of Flamenco" by Dance Magazine in recognition of her commitment to creating new works and developing young artists. She has been Artistic Director of FLAMENCO VIVO CARLOTA SANTANA since 1987 after founding the Company in 1983 with Roberto Lorca who was an early victim of the AIDS epidemic and died in 1987. Ms. Santana continually expands the Company’s repertoire by presenting new music, dramatic works, and a mix of various dance vocabularies, as well as by integrating Hispanic-American influences. Under her artistic direction the Company has performed in many venues across the United States and in Colombia, South America and in Spain.
Ms. Santana is on the faculty of Duke University, has taught at Long Island and New York Universities, and has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council and is a member of NYS DanceForce.
Ms. Santana has been honored during Women’s History Month by the office of the Manhattan Borough President for her “outstanding efforts in keeping alive the great tradition of Flamenco.” She is a recent recipient of a Choreography Fellowship from the North Carolina Arts Council.
Ms Santana created the Company’s innovative Arts Education program, integrating Spanish dance and culture with the school curriculum. She travels widely implementing this program while training teachers to integrate the program into the elementary and high school curriculum. She leads Master Classes and Panel discussions at universities and educational institutions across the U.S. Through her New Works Series she develops the art form of Flamenco by commissioning new choreography and music and premiering and touring new pieces annually.