8 days until #DanceWeekend21! Meet Carmen Romero: a leading, award-winning flamenco dance artist and empresario in Canada. She founded Compania Carmen Romero in 1992 and soon after the School of Flamenco Dance arts developed where she created a unique pedagogy in Flamenco Dance Arts. She uses many modalities from her education and experience to be able to guide her students of any age and walk of life. “Dance to me is a way to express myself, connect with others. No rules, no prejudice. Explore and discover. Appreciate the body and the temple within.”
At DW’21, Carmen will be teaching movement and rhythm through the language of Flamenco! Sign up for her workshop on Sun May 2! Get your ticket to DanceWeekend’21 HERE. See the full DanceWeekend’21 schedule HERE.
#ComeDanceWithUs
Can you tell us little bit about yourself/company/collective/school?
Carmen Romero is a leading, award-winning flamenco dance artist and empresario in Canada. Her experience in performance, education, production and adjudication, affirms her position in the national and international dance scene. She founded Compania Carmen Romero in 1992 and soon after the School of Flamenco Dance arts developed where she created a unique pedagogy in Flamenco Dance Arts. Carmen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from York University and operates a complementary practice as a therapist in Brain injury rehabilitation. As well, she has employed her craft to mentor residents at Covenent House through Project Humanity, that offers vulnerable youths, to opportunity to develop healthy and meaningful experiences and life skills with mentors. While her approach to teaching is far from clinical it certainly is informed. She uses many modalities from her education and experience to be able to guide her students of any age and walk of life. Her motto, “Discover your Passion.” Is one that describes the journey well for those who train with her.
What will you be sharing at DanceWeekend’21?
I am excited to share with the DanceWeekend my personal/professional way of teaching movement and rhythm through the language of flamenco. We will start with a warmup to get your brain and body ready to dance, then I will teach a few elements such as the arm and footwork into a sequence so that we can do it together like a short dance. I will share the music with you so that you can do it on your own and enjoy it when you like.
How has the pandemic shifted your work as a professional dance artist?
The pandemic has changed everything that I do in dance. I have had to change the way I teach as it’s not the same via computer instead of physically being in the same room. Performance has also changed as I believe we need to interact with the audience and not just perform in front of a camera. It’s been a steep learning curve. As much as it has been frustrating at times it’s also been very interesting learning new ways to work. One “super” bonus is that I have been able to create some great work that I might not otherwise have had the time or opportunity to do.
Please share what you are most looking forward to at Dance Ontario’s first virtual DanceWeekend?
Connection ! I’m looking forward to connecting with the audience and also with fellow artists. It’s really good to try and keep things going and I congratulate DanceOntario on this initiative.
Do you have any up-coming performances/workshops/events you would like to share?
I several events coming up so I would suggest that people connect to my facebook page or website as this is where I post information. As well, I would like to let people know about FlamencOnline which is my new wing to my school. There students will be able to train in flamenco/castanets/singing and more to come. www.carmenromero.ca
In 1 or 2 sentences, what does dance mean to you?
Dance to me is a way to express myself, connect with others. No rules, no prejudice. Explore and discover. Appreciate the body and the temple within.