Lara Wong is a flamenco flautist with an eclectic style of playing stemming from her jazz and classical roots. She goes to Spain regularly to study flamenco flute and singing and has spent the last year in Seville, Spain which was funded by the Canada Arts Council to continue her work. Lara performs regularly in Spain, Canada, and in Mexico, and has also performed in Cuba and Armenia. She has studied in Spain with Esperanza Fernandez, Pedro Sierra, and El Torombo as well as with other teachers in the Fundacion Flamenco Cristina Hereen. In Canada, she has studied with flautists Dave Gossage and Carolyn Christie during her undergrad at McGill University.
Past Tours
Maria Avila has been involved in the art of flamenco for well over a decade. She has trained at all three of Vancouver’s top Flamenco schools; Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy, Karen Flamenco, and completed Centro Flamenco's professional two-year dance program. Maria has lived abroad to train intensively at Flamenco Abierto in Sevilla, Spain and Pro Arte in Queretaro, Mexico. Over the years Maria has performed as both a Flamenco Rosario and an Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre company member. Currently, Maria Avila has established herself as an independent dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Recent achievements include being awarded a B.C. Arts Council grant for professional development in 2013 as well as performing at the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival in 2011 and 2014. She collaborates with Calle Verde, La Triana, and Raices y Alas.
Currently Touring
Daniel Azcarate is one of America’s premier emerging flamenco cante soloists and currently works as a professional singer in Seville, Spain and throughout North America. Azcarate started studying flamenco guitar at the age of 19, and took up cante while visiting Seville two years later, where he realized that singing was his true passion. Back in the U.S., Azcarate studied with renowned singers like Jesus Montoya, Vicente Griego, Cristo Cortes and others. Soon he was in-demand at the local tablaos in his hometown of Seattle, both as a singer and guitarist. In 2013, Azcarate returned to Seville to study cante fulltime at the Cristina Heeren Fundacion de Flamenco. Since then, he has become a regular voice in the Seville flamenco scene, regularly appearing at well-known tablaos like Caja Negra, Sala Garufa, and La Flamenqueria, as well as at the famed Feria de Abril. He also continues to be an in-demand performer back at home, and has toured with dancer Melinda Hedgecorth’s Flamenco Mio and Canada’s Fin de Fiesta Flamenco. Azcarate currently divides his time between Seville and Seattle, and recently recorded his debut CD, Mi Camino Flamenco.
Tamar “La Tama” Ilana grew up performing Sephardic, Medieval and Balkan music since the age of five. At eight, she began studying flamenco dance at the Esmeralda Enrique Academy of Spanish Dance in Toronto. In 2007 Tamar put singing and flamenco together, and began studying cante with renowned cantaora Montse Cortés in Barcelona. She has since studied with flamenco masters including Adela Campallo, Farruquito, Juana Amaya, Calixto Sánchez, Encarna Anillo, Rocío Márquez, Arcángel, Segundo Falcón and Esperanza Fernández, and she has performed throughout Europe and North America. In 2010, Tamar spent one year studying cante (flamenco singing) at the prestigious Cristina Heeren Flamenco Art Foundation in Seville. Upon her return to Toronto in 2011 and the discovery of the Fedora Upside-Down community, she founded Ventanas, bringing her flamenco, Balkan and Sephardic worlds together. In 2013 she received funding from the Chalmer's Professional Development Grant from the Ontario Arts Council to return to Seville for a three-month intensive study period. Tamar currently teaches cante at the Academy of Spanish Dance, and performs regularly in tablaos as well as with Flamenguitos del Norte, the Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company, the Jorge Miguel Flamenco Ensemble, Maracatu Baque de Bamba, and Los Amigos de Pilar. www.tamarilana.com
Dennis Duffin grew up in a musical family playing guitar from a very early age, and was taught flamenco by his father with whom he performed as a teenager. He has since performed with renowned artists in Spain and in Canada including groups such Ventanas, Flamenguitos del Norte, Jesse Cook, Esmeralda Enrique, Lemon Bucket Orkestra and Joanna Moon.
Dennis is the creator and leader of the Toronto Flamenco ensemble Flamenguitos del Norte, and represents them in the urban folk collective Fedora Upsidedown. He organizes a growing underground flamenco scene and artistic collective called Flamenco Juerga Toronto. Dennis recently completed a one year period of intensive study at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren in Sevilla in 2012-2013, with guitarists such as Pedro Sierra, Niño de Pura, Paco Cortes, Eduardo Rebollar. In Canada, Dennis has studied with Nicolás Hernández, Jose Vega, Rubén Díaz, Oscar Lago, Tino van der Sman and José Valle “Chuscales”. Dennis also holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from McMaster University.
Alexandra trained as a ballet dancer at the Dance Conservatory of Montreal before travelling to Cuba and Mexico to perform and study Latin, contemporary and Afro-Cuban dance. She discovered flamenco at the age of 18 and decided to explore the complex and rich art form more deeply. To get closer to flamenco's roots, she travelled to Spain and studied with masters such as Belen Maya, Carmen Ledesma, Rafael Campallo, Chloe Brule, Ursula Lopez and Andres Pena. In 2011, Alexandra was selected to participate in the intensive "Paso a Paso" mentoring and coaching program directed by Myriam Allard in Montreal. In 2013, Alexandra joined FIN DE FIESTA and Ventanas, a Toronto-based world music group. Alexandra now divides her time between Spain and Canada and works professionally at tablaos and artistic events. She also gives courses and workshops in both countries.
fin de fiesta
Michelle began her flamenco dance training in Vancouver with Oscar Nieto in 2001 and began performing two years later. Since then she has developed into one of the city’s most experienced and sought-after tablaoperformers, known for her improvisational instinct and sharp, clean footwork. Beyond this traditional style of flamenco, she has collaborated with artists from outside the usual scope of the form to experiment, innovate and challenge expectations. She has worked with such diverse artists and groups as The Plastic Acid Orchestra, Tyson Naylor (jazz pianist), Mashregh (Persian-flamenco fusion), Wen Wei Wang (contemporary dance), Silk Road Music Ensemble, and Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre. Michelle has also performed with more traditional flamenco groups from Canada, Iran, Scotland, USA, France and Spain. She has performed in the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, Victoria Flamenco Festival and dozens of other professional presentations around BC. Michelle has studied flamenco dance in Spain and continues to attend workshops by visiting artists. She studies and teaches at Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy in Vancouver.
Lia has been dancing flamenco across Canada for the past decade, and currently divides her time between Toronto and Seville. In Canada, she was a featured performer at the Montreal Flamenco Festival and Vancouver's Jondo Flamenco Festival, and has performed in theatres and venues across the country. In Spain, she has performed at Seville's Flamenqueria and La Sala Garufa. She began her studies in 2003 in Vancouver with maestros Oscar Nieto and Kasandra "La China." After relocating to Toronto, she continued her studies with Carmen Romero and Esmeralda Enrique, as well as with Myriam Allard in Montreal. When in Spain, she studies with masters such as Farruquito, Maunel Betanzos, Juan de los Reyes, La Farruca, La Faraona, Ursula Lopez, Alicia Marquez, Ramon Martinez and Miguel Vargas. In 2013 she was selected to participate in the prestigious "Paso a Paso" mentoring program run by Myriam Allard and Hedi Graja of La Otra Orilla in Montreal. She spent the beginning of 2015 in Sevilla studying baile with the help of a Chalmers Professional Development Grant from the Ontario Arts Council.
Copyright 2013. FIN DE FIESTA. All rights reserved.