44 Days until DanceWeekend’20! We chatted with Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company about what they are planning to bring to the DanceWeekend stage!
Connect with Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company:
Facebook: https://bit.ly/2LGfqYZ
Instagram @esmeralda_enrique
Twitter @Esmeralda_EESDC
Can you tell us little bit about your company/collective/school?
After spending many years in Spain performing and touring internationally with top flamenco dance companies Esmeralda Enrique made an impromptu decision to come to Canada when she accepted a performing job at a Spanish night club in Toronto in 1981. On opening night she peaked through the stage curtain and saw a handsome man in the audience. Little did she know that she would meet that man following the performance and he would become her husband. Settling in Toronto, Esmeralda needed to work in her profession as dancer, teacher and choreographer.
In 1982 she founded both the Academy of Spanish Dance and Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company. Now 37 years later her school is internationally recognized for quality training in flamenco and Spanish classical dance. The school is held in particularly high regard by the artists from Spain who come to teach master classes and workshops.
The now well established, award winning Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company’s history is rooted in flamenco and Spanish Classical dance that honours traditional flamenco singing, dance and music while offering a contemporary aesthetic. EESDC has been presenting an annual Toronto Season since 1990 and has developed an ever expanding repertoire that has earned both critical and popular acclaim. It took many years, if not decades to create a company of unique, talented local dancers and musicians that is recognized for the exceptional level of their productions. Company artists have received six Dora Mavor Moore Awards in addition to numerous nominations over the years. NOW Magazine readers voted EESDC Toronto’s Best Dance Company for 2015 and the company was runner up in 2019. The Company, under Esmeralda’s direction, continues its commitment to imaginative choreography and artistic excellence.
The school and the company studios, located at 401 Richmond Street West, Suite B104, are a hub of flamenco and other dance and arts activities. They are available to rent at reasonable rates for rehearsals, classes, filming, and performances. Visit us at www.flamencos.net
What are you showing at DanceWeekend’20?
Flamenco consists of three integral elements: dance, song and music. For DanceWeekend the company will perform excerpts of existing repertoire to give audiences the opportunity to experience a range of flamenco forms. Each form, such as alegrías, tangos or farruca has its own rhythm structure and emotional quality. Our presentation will offer a small taste of what is to come in our spring concerts at Fleck Dance Theatre May 8-10, 2020.
Who are the performers/collaborators in this piece(s)?
EESDC has a finely crafted repertoire that includes Esmeralda’s choreography as well as those of many internationally renowned flamenco artists. The program will include treasures from this repertoire and offer a glimpse of works by José Maldonado that may be included in our 2020 Toronto Season May 8-10 at Fleck Dance Theatre.
Can you talk about your creative process? What inspires you?
Artist Statement
Flamenco has shaped my life’s history. It is my great passion. It excites my mind, it enraptures my soul and comforts my spirit. Through flamenco I find truth, beauty and goodness. Good flamenco is always stirring to the listener who hears with their heart. It communicates beyond what words can describe and beyond what movement can say. It is the language of the soul. Flamenco is more than a profession to me, it is a way of life, and it permeates my personal and professional life through its philosophy of honesty, dignity and integrity. I believe that one does not have to be a performer to be “a flamenco”. A flamenco is anyone who is emotionally and actively involved in this philosophy. The art of flamenco is merely the outward expression of the flamenco way of life.
In making work it is important that I understand and am motivated by the originators and practitioners of a style or form. To understand their philosophies, attitudes, customs, beliefs, likes and dislikes. It is necessary to understand not only what flamenco is, but why it is what it is. I continue to make work for the expectation of what might occur. The sublime moment of emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual connectedness, the “duende” that can never be artificially created, but presents itself only when the conditions, both seen and unseen, are in perfect harmony. This is why I dance, why the company was formed with like-minded artists and why we continue to create and share this magical process with our audiences.
Please share your experience performing in a previous DanceWeekend and/or tell us what you are looking forward to at DanceWeekend’20?
Our company artists always look forward to participating in DanceWeekend. It provides an opportunity to connect with other performers and provides an unparalleled opportunity to introduce the capacity audiences to flamenco and Spanish dance. Over the many years of participating we know many people have been introduced to our company and have become flamenco enthusiasts because of attending DanceWeekend.
What is one surprising or interesting fact about your company/collective/school?
It has always been the objective of EESDC to build a flamenco company in Canada that provides audiences an authentic experience of this art form from Andalucía, Spain. That is why our performances have live music and include a singer whose interpretation of songs and their specific rhythms sets the emotional quality for the dancers and other musicians. In the early days of EESDC there were no flamenco singers in Canada and resources didn’t allow us to bring singers from Spain. Now it would be unimaginable to perform without a singer. We now invite Spanish artists, singers in particular, to join us in creating new repertoire and to perform with us as members of the company for our Toronto Season.
Do you have any up-coming performances/events you would like to share?
We will be presenting our annual Toronto Season at the Fleck Dance Theatre May 8-10, 2020 featuring our extraordinary local dancers and musicians as well as musicians from Montreal and Spain and the award winning Spanish guest dancer/choreographer José Maldonado who is returning for his second season.
Photo by Hamid Karimi