A touch of Spain

Young Chang

Even flamenco choreographer Yaelisa, who goes by just the one

name, is surprised that the Spanish art has found flourishing ground

in the unlikely land of Irvine.

The Irvine Barclay Theatre will play host for the New World

Flamenco Festival for the second year, starting today. The host city

is becoming known for offering one of the three largest flamenco

festivals in the country.

Irvine joins New York City and Albuquerque simply because Douglas

Rankin, president of the Barclay, wanted to play a part in making

flamenco more mainstream in America.

The pivotal conversation happened five years ago in a small and

windowless room in Sacramento. Yaelisa and Rankin got to talking

about “things in general” during a break from serving on the same

dance panel. The choreographer brought up wanting to put on a

flamenco festival in San Francisco, where her Yaelisa & Caminos

Flamencos company is based. Two minutes later, the theater president

said, “We ought to do that in Irvine.” And so Yaelisa’s brainchild

landed in Rankin’s hall.

“Of course, it took a few years to get it together, but some

things are just as simple as that,” Rankin said.

The second annual 10-day result is anything but simple. As three

companies travel from San Francisco, Madrid and Sevilla to perform a

program of dance and music, the festival also offers workshops for

visitors who can’t readily fly to Spain to study with the best. A

long-distance relationship, of sorts, between performers and visitors

is what Yaelisa wants.

“It’s so amazing that a festival would exist in Irvine and that

people would come from all over California,” she said. “That’s what

our goal was, to try to make this a national festival. And I think

that will happen.”

Rankin, who is no newcomer to the art of flamenco nor the art of

presenting it, said he knew there was a market for it.

“I love the art form myself; therefore, I could legitimately and

passionately promote it if I had to,” the president said. “And I was

clearly aware of Yaelisa’s work, so it made sense.”

Compania Juana Amaya, featuring modern-day flamenco legend Juana

Amaya from Madrid, will perform today through Sunday.

Yaelisa’s company will present the world premiere of “Desde Cadiz

Pa Aca” (From Cadiz to Here) Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cadiz is a seaport village in Spain, on the Strait of Gibraltar,

at the tip of Andalucia. The people there are known for their upbeat

style of flamenco singing and dancing, a style that arose from their

equally famous happy-go-lucky way of just being.

Through her dance piece, the Emmy-winning Yaelisa brings the

fun-loving spirit of faraway Cadiz to nearby Irvine.

“There’s a lot of tragedy in flamenco,” she said. “A lot of deep,

profound feelings. But there’s another side too that we have to

remember that is very fun to watch and very fun to participate in.”

Flamenco music and dance run the emotional gamut, Yaelisa

continued. Devastation, loneliness, grief after the loss of loved

ones and anger are frequently expressed sentiments in the genre,

which was first developed by gypsies.

“There’s a personality in Spain that ... the dichotomy between

life and death are very much a part of their culture,” she said.

“They live to the fullest, and yet there is an obsession with death.”

The last company performing at the festival -- the Compania

Flamenca Andres Marin -- will present the North American premiere of

“Mas alla del Tiempo” (Beyond Time). The company is known for its

emotionally contrasting performances and its melding of contemporary

and more traditional styles.

“Stylistically, this company falls in the middle between Juana and

Andres,” Yaelisa said of her troupe, whose instruments this week will

include the guitar, voice and feet (“Those are instruments too,” the

choreographer says.) “All three of our companies represent the gamut

of flamenco styles that exist in flamenco.”

Through the workshops and the performances, the end result is a

crash course in the dance.

“To provide California audiences with a range of musical and dance

and choreographical ideas that are going on in Spain right now,”

Yaelisa said.