Emerald Flamenco Dance Theatre

Flamenco Dance Theatre direct from Spain.

"Not like you have seen before."

Hernandez & Tamayo Spanish Dance Theatre premiere their work Emerald in Melbourne, at Chapel off Chapel Theatre. Unlike what you would expect from Flamenco dance, Hernandez & Tamayo draw a measured distance from the traditional spotted dresses and flying skirts. Advancing forward and pioneering Spanish Dance Arts in Australia, their latest work is a signatory of their union, interweaving folkloric, ballet, contemporary and Flamenco dance, like never seen before in Australasia. Ballet trained, Spanish folkloric and contemporary dance artist Aitor Hernandez Sanzano breathes world-class experience and knowledge from the Ballet Nacional of Spain and has aligned with traditional Gypsy Flamenco artist Marina Tamayo who trained in Sacromonte, Granada to form Australia’s first unique culturally rich contemporary dance Spanish team.

Exploring the intrinsic fight with the shadows of the past, Hernandez and Tamayo are performers who use their very different dance heritages to an advantage. There are strong elements of folk and classical ballet traditions, but these movement vocabularies are used explicitly to describe internal states. Intensity, passion and intricacy are woven exquisitely as they move through a series of encounters. Liquid arms and percussive responses describe shifts in status and rituals of leaving and returning and desiring and rejecting. With a simple change of cloth, relationships between generations shift and rivalries are made manifest.

Technical and Arts Team: Lighting Designer: Jason James Hobart; Costumes: James Penrose Melbourne; Music editing soundtrack: Aaron Lee, NSW.

What the reviewers are saying:

"It is impossible to ignore how well these dancers perform the simplest shoulder shift and the most complex footwork. It is exciting to see this embodiment of their vulnerability." - Lesley Graham, Australian Dance Review for MOVES Contemporary Dance Festival, Hobart.

"Emerald is a cultural dance experience perhaps unlike any that has been shown in New Zealand before. It is Engaging, exciting and there is no doubt that Hernandez and Tamayo are skilled dance artists and storytellers." - Theatreview, Fringe Festival Auckland 2020.

"Saturated in emotion and bravura, by turns fierce and wild, explosive and anguished, or reined in along a knife-edge." - NZHerald, Summer at Q Festival Auckland 2020.

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