2nd Annual Feria de Sevilla

Pasión y Arte performing on Saturday, May 7th, 2005 at 8pm

We have been on tour for the month of April and we are happy to back. Classes will resume on May 10th with the regular schedule. Please visit us this Saturday at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts:

Don't miss the premiere of “La Luna de Par en Par” – (The Moon Wide Open) Part II- “De Los Labios de Dios” (From the Lips of God) and a section of Part III – “Ser Como Ella” – (To Become Her) exploring the female psyche through the experience of dance and pushing the boundaries of traditional Flamenco tradition by incorporating different musical genres, cross disciplinary choreography, non-traditional costumes and visual landscape.

Where: Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts,
3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

TICKETS: Saturday, May 7 $24-$33 (member, student & senior pricing available) Annenberg Center at www.pennpresents.org
Phone: 215.898.3900

"I have always felt that Flamenco is a vessel to empower women, to exemplify our physical strength and to express our personal tragedies and triumphs. I choose to pursue Flamenco full-time with the realization of my company: Pasion y Arte. This tradition is our vehicle for social change. It is the way I share my vision for women and the way I express and expand my personal capacity and therefore the role and power of women inside the tradition and in society. As the name of my company states it is my passion and my art.

Pasión y Arte is a not-for–profit, all female Flamenco dance company that develops and presents work that preserves and strengthens the Flamenco tradition and that empowers women through cante (deep song), baile (dance), and toque (guitar). Pasion y Arte consists of performers from Latin America and Europe. Drawing on this multi-cultural diversity, the works examines gender, cultural, religious, socio-economic and generational boundaries in the context of the Flamenco language." --Elba Hevia y Vaca

Pasión y Arte's goals are:

• To produce challenging, provocative, traditionally, innovative and original works.
• To introduce and promote the work of emerging performers, and established artists through increased performance opportunities.
• To foster new generations of artists and audiences by stimulating public appreciation of Latino/Spanish art and culture through public outreach and educational programs.
• To show the intersection of many cultures working together to create art.

Premiering: The Program for the Annenberg on May 7th conceived by Elba Hevia y Vaca

Choreography - Part II – Alejandro Granados and Elba Hevia y Vaca
Choreography - Part III - Alejandro Granados, Elba Hevia y Vaca in collaboration with the Company
Visual Landscape Design: Adal Maldonado
Music: Composed and written by Gonzalo Grau, Guitar and Cante compositions by Cristian Puig
Costumes: Elba Hevia y Vaca
Featured Dancer: "La Meria"
Dancers: Elba Hevia y Vaca, Monica Herrera, Jenny Basco, Cristina Moguel, Stefanie Navarez
Musicians: Cristian Puig- toque (guitar) and cante (song), Gonzalo Grau – Piano, Percussion, Peter Basil- Percussion, Saxophone- Shlomi

About the Trilogy: Conceptually, the trilogy, "La Luna de Par en Par" explores the female psyche through the experience of dance. It is a journey of a woman.

Part I explores loss of innocence – and awareness.
Part II explores duality and the masculine presence.
And Part III explores evolution and the awakening to the feminine principle; woman.

Each section of "La Luna de Par en Par" incorporates the use of choreography, cast, music, video and costume. This effort to merge concept to content will be evident in all three sections of the trilogy. This multi-disciplinary project represents our first attempt to incorporate various musical genres - some pre-recorded - cross disciplinary choreography and video to create a visual landscape as a background for the set.

In Part III, "La Luna de Par en Par" reverts to traditional Flamenco but with the added component of rap/spoken word performed by the dancers and musicians. The dancers wear traditional costumes that reflect an evolution to where we want to be – the appreciation of being a woman - returning to the Goddess that we once were and its celebration - as the title says, “Ser Como Ella” (To Become Her).The complete Trilogy will premier in Philadelphia, in October, for the Painted Bride's 2005-06 Season.

The concept for Feria de Sevilla began in 1842, after a hurricane destroyed much of Sevilla, Spain. The natural disaster came at a time when the spirits of the Sevillan people were already low, due to economic difficulty brought on by the French invasion. To help raise everyone's spirits, two civic leaders petitioned the main authority of the town to reestablish the April Fair, a celebration that was originally introduced by Alfonso X, El Sabio. In 1847 the new fair was approved by Queen Isabel II and began as a commercial animal exchange that took place in casetas that lined the streets . Over the years, the people of Sevilla transformed the celebration into what it is today – one of Spain's most extraordinary cultural celebrations that expresses the joy of the Sevillan people through vivacious color, music, dance, food and wine.

For more information and full performance schedule visit our website at www.pasionyarte.com/feria_de_sevilla.htm