This year’s Vancouver International Flamenco Festival will feature four shows by an internationally celebrated practitioner of this artform. Compañía Rocío Molina’s company will perform the Canadian premiere of Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo) at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at 8 p.m. from September 27 to 30. The theatre is inside the SFU Woodward’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.
Often described as the “enfant terrible of flamenco”, Rocío Molina goes on a 90-minute journey through lights and shadows in Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo), according to her company’s website.
“She dances and establishes a different relation with the earth,” the synopsis states, “and so you have the feeling that her dance is born from her womb and the soil she kicks, and thus her dance becomes the celebration of being a woman. This descent or fall is the one-way journey of a woman, but Rocío does not lead us to the inverted image of The Fallen Angel, as it happened to Dante in his ‘Divine Comedy’, but she takes us to a place of deep freedom.”
Molina’s works have been performed in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, and Singapore. That’s in addition to Western cultural capitals such as Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Watch the electrifying promo for Rocío Molina’s Fallen From Heaven (Caida del Cielo).
Flamenco fest features free and ticketed events
The festival opens on September 18 with a free masterclass by Mexican-born bailadora Rosario Ancer. She is co-founder of Flamenco Rosario, co-founder of the festival, and its artistic director.
In her class, Ancer will introduce techniques such as Compás (flamenco rhythm), Zapateado (basic footwork) Palmas (hand clapping), and Braceo (arm and hand work). Plus, participants will learn a short dance sequence that brings them together.
There will also be a free showcase over two days of B.C. flamenco dancers’ artistry at the Picnic Pavilion stage (267 Old Bridge Walk) on Granville Island. These performances will take place between 2 to 5:30 p.m. on September 23 and from 1 to 5:30 p.m. on September 24.
The first ticketed event features Qairo, an ensemble with performers from Canada, France, Spain, and Turkey. It will perform at 8 p.m. on September 20 at the Fox Cabaret.
At 8 p.m. on September 21, the festival moves to the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island. There, Calgary-based Rosanna Terracciano will dance to works choreographed by herself, Montreal-based Myrian Allard, and Barcelona-based Juan Carlos Lérida.
Meanwhile, the Waterfront Theatre will also be the site of two other ticketed events. Jafelin & Flor de Caña and Mexico-based Marien Luevano will perform at 8 p.m. on September 22. They will be followed on September 23 at the same time and location by Montreal-based La Otra Orilla.
The Vancouver International Flamenco Festival will co-present Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo) with DanceHouse and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at 8 p.m. from September 27 to 30. For more information about the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, visit the website. Follow Pancouver on Twitter @PancouverMedia. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
