Belen Maya to Host Flamenco Dance Workshops in Santa Barbara, Long Beach

Vida Flamenca is proud to host flamenco dancer Belén Maya in a series of educational workshops in Southern California including Santa Barbara May 4 & 5; and Long Beach May 6 & 7.

Belén has been performing flamenco for more than 30 years around the world, primarily in Spain. She is one of the most important international choreographers in the flamenco art form today and is a pioneer of new flamenco. She is also known for departing from traditional flamenco dance through the use of innovative movements.

Of pure Roma blood, Belén is the daughter of two of the greatest flamenco dancers: Carmen Mora and Mario Maya. Born in New York City while her parents were on tour, these seeds of flamenco go deep in Belen's dance which comes from a personal need to do what is and what is not written. To see her is a journey of the flamenco tradition and what she draws in time and space. Her freshness, originality and personality fascinatEd Carlos Saura. For this reason, she was asked by Saura to represent the future generations of flamenco in both of his exquisite movies "Flamenco" and "Sevillanas".

The "bata de cola" (the traditional, long flamenco dress) in Belen Maya's art is the renaissance of the flamenco female dancer of today. It has been of the maximum expression and delicate dance which has been used in her recent shows (Romnia, Dibujos, Souvenir and La Voz de su Amo). Transparent and in balance with tradition Belen Maya has perfected her technique and expression to become one of the best female flamenco dancers today. 'Romnia', meaning 'women' in romani language, is a celebration of 'gypsyness', devoid of victimism, but with both a compassionate and a cheerful look to the misfortune of women whose courage to survive have nurtured a new aesthetic and ethical commitment by Belén.

Belén Maya has built her career on her constant drive to explore and go deeper into the whole network of active parts that make up the language of dance: music, stage, narrative, acting, drama, language and so on, until coming to the last and most important keystone of this structure created for thinking and communication: the human beings who create it. Belén Maya was arguably the first artist to revise the codes of flamenco dance at the turn of the century, not by adding new rules, but by freeing it from its limitations, enabling flamenco to coexist alongside other languages and, ultimately, opening the floodgates of lexical, syntactic and semantic freedom to dance and the stage.

As part of our educational focus, Vida flamenco takes great pride in announcing Ms. Maya's Long Beach workshop will include a Lecture/Demonstration and Q&A on composition and the creative process in Contemporary Flamenco. This lecture is "OPEN TO THE PUBLIC" with Limited Reserved Seating Available. You may pay for the Lecture/Demo at our "Eventbrite": belenmayaworkshop.eventbrite.com. The cost is $20.00

Please join us for two extraordinary opportunities to train with Belén Maya in Southern California.

IN SANTA BARBARA:
THURSDAY, MAY 4 * 7-9:00PM
FRIDAY, MAY 5 * 8-10:00PM
Zermeño Dance Academy
5575 Hollister Ave, Ste A, Goleta, California 93117
ENROLL EARLY // LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE
CONTACT: danny@zermenodance.com

IN LOS ANGELES:
SATURDAY, MAY 6 * 12-4:00PM
SUNDAY, MAY 7 * LECTURE 12-1:15PM; CLASSES 1:15-5:15PM
The Dance Company, Vault D
5423 Village Rd. corner of Village Rd and Viking Way
ADV. BEGINNER: FANDANGOS; INTERMEDIATE: TIENTOS: INTER./ADVANCED ALEGRIAS WITH BATA DE COLA
LONG BEACH LECTURE // CLASS PRICING: $20.00-$380.00
belenmayaworkshop.eventbrite.com
FREE PARKING

Vida Flamenca is a California-based 501 (c) 3 non-profit. We are dedicated to advancing and preserving Spanish dance and music traditions.

Ongoing programming emphasizes the increased awareness of Spanish culture through educational lectures and workshops, masterclasses, artist-in-residence and performances. We are dedicated to the ongoing advancement of Flamenco music and dance in Southern California, throughout the U.S., and around the world. We look forward to future projects, and continuing to bring you the best in Flamenco education and entertainment. Visit vidaflamenca.org.