The Joyce Theater is our main New York performance venue. We have performed annually since 1998, and are proud to partner with this prestigious theater.

We recently completed our 2008 run at The Joyce with the premiere of our latest flamenco dance drama Carmen: El Baile.

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana brought to the stage the story of the passionate, doomed Carmen, told through the language of flamenco—exploring the universal themes of love, death, pride and sorrow that are the heart and soul of flamenco.

The name Carmen has long been associated with insatiable desire, mysterious beauty, and vengeful and fiery tempers. This timeless story, made famous to modern audiences through opera and film, is beautifully suited to interpretation through flamenco. Carmen: El Baile gives a contemporary twist on the classic story. She is no longer the cigarette girl but the symbol of artistic perfection. Our Carmen is an accomplished, self-empowered woman. Above all, she epitomizes "the dance," showing how the artistic drive—the drive to achieve perfection—can both create and destroy.

The work was conceived and directed by Rafael Lopez-Barrantes, whose 35-year career in the performing arts has taken him from stages and schools in Madrid and France, to ADF and Duke University, and now to the California Institute of the Arts Theater School.

Choreography by Pilar Andujar who performed the title role. Ms. Andujar's electric yet graceful artistry has contributed to numerous Company performances. Her choreographies have twice been finalists in the Flamenco and Spanish Dance Competition in Madrid, and she is one of the most sought-after flamenco performers with major companies in Spain and abroad. Original music for guitar, voice, violin, and percussion was composed by guitarist Calvin Hazen, a long-time Company member.

Carmen: El Baile premiered on February 14, 2008 in Anchorage, Alaska, toured the U.S., and completed its run at The Joyce Theater, New York.

Carmen: El Baile was commissioned by The Joyce Theater's Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work. Additional support: commissioning funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and The National Endowment for the Arts.

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