Maria Bermudez Brings 'Sonidos Gitanos' Back to Los Angeles Next Month

Officially celebrated by the city of Jerez de la Frontera as an Ambassador of Gypsy culture, critically acclaimed director, choreographer, and lead dancer, Maria Bermudez brings her internationally successful Sonidos Gitanos (Gypsy Sounds) back to Los Angeles for two nights only at the El Portal MainStage Theatre in North Hollywood on November 18 and 19, featuring master musicians from her adopted home of Jerez, the "birthplace of Flamenco."

Since 1995, Sonidos Gitanos has presented California audiences unique opportunities to experience Flamenco in its most authentic form, laced with spontaneity, improvisation and highlighting the most accomplished dancers Spain offers with distinctive and ever-evolving performances.

Starring alongside Bermudez are Ana de los Reyes, Cante/Singer; Miguel Rosendo, Cante/Singer; Bernardo Parilla, Gypsy Violin; and Jesus Alvarez, Guitar. Along with Bailaoras/Dancers direct from the Linda Vega Dance Studio in Santa Barbara, and Special Guest Artist Pedro Córdoba, Bailaor/Dancer.

Bermudez, a deeply musical artist known for soulfully expressive dancing, was born and raised in Los Angeles, but driven to learn from the legendary gypsy artists with whom she has professionally collaborated for more than two decades - one of very few foreigners to do so. Bermudez is highly recognized for her extraordinary loyalty to the art form and furthering its worldwide reach. Having presented Sonidos Gitanos at such venues as the Hollywood Bowl and John Anson Ford Theatres in Los Angeles, The Joyce Theatre and Lincoln Center in New York, the Festival de Beaucaire in France, the Folk Culture Festival Obwalden in Switzerland, and back home again to the revered Teatro Villamarta, during the prestigious Festival Flamenco de Jerez.

Onstage, Bermudez invokes the traditions she knows intimately from her earliest days of study under the great dancer and Patriarch, El Farruco (whose great-grandsons grace international stages today). Through a ConVivencia - in the sense of Community or "a life lived," the respected artist, teacher and choreographer seeks to strengthen the connection between the Andalusian elders and her southern California communities. For the first time, Bermudez and the great musicians of Sonidos Gitanos share the stage with a group of stunning young professionals from Santa Barbara. This quinteto of young artists include Jocy Cardenas, Amanda Cuevas, Marisa Haro, Sabrina Ibarra, and Talia Vestal.

"A sense of community is one of the great joys of Sonidos Gitanos ... led by Maria Bermudez, a [dancer] capable of focusing on complex percussive heelwork in one passage, powerful emotional projection in another and then throwing it all away in glorious idiosyncratic outbursts...." - The Los Angeles Times

In a spirit of coming full circle, this show celebrates the arc of Bermudez' formidable professional career, as well as the path ahead of aspiring artists drawn toward the sometimes lamenting, sometimes euphoric cry of Gypsy flamenco.

Maria Bermudez' Sonidos Gitanos performs on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Tickets range from $40-$75. El Portal MainStage Theatre is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. For tickets and information, call (818) 508-4200 or go to www.elportaltheatre.com. Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SonidosGitanosFlamenco.

Photo Credit: Sari Makki?

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