Forever Flamenco by Vanessa Albalos
Sunday, August 1st, 8PM

You know her. You love her. You adore her. It’s Vanessa Albalos, one of the most acclaimed Flamenco dancers in the city. She’s performed in huge venues around the world, for celebrities, royalty, the rich and famous, and yet you can see her up-close-and-personal at The Fountain Theatre, amazing innit? She’s brought a killer lineup that’s sure to amaze and astonish. Clear your Sunday plans, you ain’t gonna wanna miss this.

Vanessa Albalos — Baile & Director
Briseyda Zárate — Baile
Cristina Lucio — Baile
Oscar Valero — Cante
José Tanaka — Guitarrista
Kambiz Pakandam — Guitarrista

PROGRAM

Guitar Solo — Kambiz Pakan

Tientos — Cristina Lucio

Cante Solo — Oscar Valero

Baile por Solea — Briseyda Zarate

Intermission

Sevillanas — The Company

Guitar Solo — Jose Tanaka

Alegrias — Vanessa Albalos

Fin de Fiesta — The Company

COMPANY

Vanessa Albalos - (Dancer / Director) was born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, which is where she spent her childhood. Her  mother was the biggest influence in Flamenco, as she introduced Vanessa to the art from an early age  and gave her an upbringing rich in music. It was then that she started to become familiar with cante and  the very complex and unusual rhythms of Flamenco.  

She began to study Flamenco dance at the age of 13 in El Paso, Texas with Rita Vega de Triana and Curro  Niebla. After migrating to Southern California, studied with several well-known teachers in the area,  including Sarah Parra, Gabriela Garza, Jose Tanaka (guitarist), Jesus Montoya (singer), Manuel Gutierrez,  and Briseyda Zarate. She frequently takes the opportunity to take workshops with artists from Spain.  Vanessa has toured Mexico with the Festival Internacional Cervantino, and Japan with Jose Tanaka’s  Soniquete Flamenco, also recording palmas for Jose’s guitar album “Lluvia”. She appeared in the Iron &  Wine video on MTV’s “Boy With A Coin”, and in Mater TV’s “Caminos Flamencos”, with Yaelisa’s San  Francisco based company. She has also appeared in the annual Los Angeles Flamenco Festival, New  World Flamenco Festival, Irvine Barclay Theatre, frequently at the Fountain Theatre’s Forever Flamenco  Series, and Houston Flamenco Festival with Jesus Montoya Company.  

Currently, Vanessa resides in Moreno Valley, California, and performs weekly at many tablaos and  private venues in Southern California. She is considered by her colleagues to be captivating,  inspirational dancer, and supportive, valuable compañera.

Briseyda Zárate Fernández - (Dancer) is bailaora flamenca, choreographer and teacher, based in Los Angeles, CA. She’s a Mexicana/Chicana born in Delano, CA to Mexican immigrants from Tanganciquaro, Michoacán. She grew up in a campesino family and community where “¡Si Se Puede! was a way of life. She also grew up in a very musical family and began singing, playing instruments, studying dance and performing at the age of 5. While an undergrad at UCLA she was introduced to Flamenco by teachers Lilliana De Leon and Gabriela Garza. Shortly after she moved to Madrid, Spain to study at the legendary school, “Amor De Dios” where she trained with various teachers, her main influence being Manuel Reyes Maya. Briseyda has dedicated the last 25 years of her life to Flamenco and is among the few in the top-most level of those practicing this art form in the United States.

Briseyda has just returned from directing and performing at Albuquerque Flamenco Festival, the premier flamenco festival in the US, with her newly founded company Compañía Flamenca Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles in her show “Mestizaje Puro”. More career highlights include performing nightly in the renowned Spanish Madrileño Tablao , “El Cafe de Chinitas” amongst many others. During this time she shared the stage with noted Gypsy artists Juan Treviño, Leo Treviño, El Ciervo, Antonia la Pescailla, La Chungi, and Los Habichuela. In Sevilla she studied with Juana Amaya, Adela Campallo and El Oruco. She performed regularly in Triana at the “T de Triana” accompanied by guitarist Fyty Carillo and singer Jonathan Reyes. In Jerez de la Frontera she studied with teachers Ana María Lopez and Manuela Carpio and

performed at the “Peña Los Cernicalos” and the “Festival de Jerez” under the direction of Javier La Torre. In 2019 she had the honor of performing in one of Spain’s most important festivals “La Fiesta de La Buleria” in Jerez de La Frontera under the direction of Maria Bermudez, sharing the bill with the creme de la creme of Flamenco such as La Farruca, Remedios Amaya, Esperanza Fernández and countless others. That same year she was invited to perform for farm worker civil rights leader, Dolores Huerta’s tribute with the Oakland Symphony.

In the US she has produced and starred in innumerous shows and festivals such as the Jacob’s Pillow Festival, the Chicago Flamenco Festival, the World Festival of Sacred Music, The Los Angeles Tap Festival and the Los Angeles Flamenco Festival. Important venues include the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion where she choreographed CARMEN for the LA OPERA, Grand Performances at California Plaza,

the Fountain Theatre, The John Anson Ford Amphitheater, El Cid and The Hollywood Bowl. She won 1st place for her performance at the “IV Concurso Nacional de Flamenco” for the Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque in 2007. And In 2019 she she produced her own dance series in LA entitled “Noches de Tablao” where she shared the stage with the legendary Carmen Ledesma and featured the best in Los Angeles Flamenco. Briseyda is a long standing member and leader of the LA Flamenco community and has performed at length with LA based artists Jesus Montoya, Antonio de Jerez, Jose Tanaka, Gabriel Osuna, Gerardo Morales, Vanessa Albalos, Manuel Gutierrez and Jose Cortes. She has earned the respect she now enjoys as a performer and as a teacher, and is sincerely committed to transmitting her understanding of this extraordinary art form to the next generation of dancers and audiences.

Cristina Lucio "La Tigresa" - (Dancer) is a Los Angeles flamenco dancer, began her training of flamenco puro with Linda Andrade over 16 years ago. She continued her studies in Seville, Spain with legendary gypsy flamenco dancers Carmelilla Montoya and Manuela Carrasco. She has performed at many venues throughout Los Angeles that present traditional tablao style Flamenco shows, such as El Cid, Cafe Sevilla, the Fountain Theater, etc. She has also danced for Sakai Flamenco, which is the only flamenco company for the prestigious Los Angeles Music Center. In 2017, Cristina received a grant from the Getty Foundation and presented in their Pacific Standard Time program series. She is also a founding member of the LA based group Subsuelo, which has been recognized by LA Weekly as "Best Party in East LA" and “A funky all-purpose rumpus room for late-generation bicultural Angelenos” by the LA Times. She has toured with the show "Battle of the Dance" which led to a seasonal residency at the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas. And she currently performs and tours internationally with the Grammy award winning guitarist Benise. She was a featured soloist in "Benise Strings of Passion" and an assistant choreographer plus featured flamenco soloist for Benise's new show "Fuego!"

Growing up in Valencia, Spain, the multitalented and versatile Flamenco dancer, Choreographer, Singer,  Percussionist and Guitarist Oscar Valero - (Cante) currently divides his time and artistry equally between the United States and his native Spain.

Oscar began studying flamenco and classical Spanish dance as a child. By the age of seventeen, he was performing professionally with various companies in Spain. In 1998-2000, Oscar became a soloist with the Antonio Canales Flamenco Company and was featured in the company's productions of Gitano, Torero, Bengues, Raíz a Cuerda yTacón. Oscar also performed with the María Pagés Dance Company the productions of La Tirana, Flamenco Republic, and El Perro Andaluz.

Oscar has appeared in so many festivals In Spain including among others the venerated Festival de Jerez, Festival de Cantes de las Minas (La Union), and La Bienal de Sevilla. With Antonio Canales he performed in the international festivals of Lyon (France), Bogotá (Colombia), Tel Aviv (Israel), Spoleto (Italia), and Tokyo (Japan). He accompanied María Pagés in the festivals of Boston and New York City, which featured such artists as Farruquito, Carmen Linares, and Manolo Sanlúcar. In 2006 Oscar inaugurated the Flamenco Festival in Valencia with stellar performers such as Tomatito and Eva La Yerba Buena.

In October 2009, The Joyce SoHo presented a brand new production of Valero’s Fuerza, El Swing del Flamenco, which received great reviews not only for his dancing and choreography but also for his ability to compose music for dance.

He had a great success his New York City-based Oscar Valero Dance Company presented Valero’s original creation Fuerza to sold-out audiences at the renowned Baryshnikov Arts Center, the JCC Arts Center as well as The Connelly Theater in NYC. He performs on the film Pink Panther II with Steve Martin. He also performs with the New York's Metropolitan Opera in the productions of, Carmen and La Traviatta.

Since Oscar moved to San Diego he has been performing at different venues locally on a regular basis as well as holding a workshop for professionals and semi-professional flamenco dancers. Oscar is also a part time Professor in the Dance department of UCSD University in San Diego. He continues to travel through the United States as an invited artist and choreographer. To mention a few Oscar was an invited in Irvine, California in the” New World Flamenco Festival” in Barclay Theatre in the production of “Flamenco Abierto” and also with the production "Zorro" with Zorongo Gitano in Minneapolis.

On the East Coast, Oscar has been working as a Flamenco Choreographer with the well-known choreographer Christopher Gattelli in the Broadway production “In Your Arms”, in which He was also performing as a soloist in the world premier at The Old Globe in San Diego. He also performed at the “Summer Concert on the Hudson music festival” in New York.

He was recently invited as a featured artist with Omayra Amaya Dance Company to perform at the celebrated Dauville Stage hotel in Miami, and was honored to be invited with the same production to perform in Shanghai, China.

José Tanaka - (Guitarist) was born in Kyoto Japan, and raised by family steeped in the Flamenco arts (his father & his uncle both are Flamenco guitarists & his mother is a Flamenco dancer).

He has a natural Flamenco musical ability & edge, which raised him above other artists. The Spanish name José was given to him by his parents to further strengthen his ties to natural Flamenco. Tanaka has been performing since childhood.

Tanaka ventured away from Flamenco and began playing the electric guitar at age 13 and by 16 was already composing and performing his original music regularly in various clubs in Kyoto, Japan with his rock band.After graduating from high school Tanaka came to the United States to study Jazz, Blues, Latin and Rock styles and theory at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, California and continued to perform with various bands throughout greater Los Angeles.

After being a guitar instructor for few years, at the age of 24 Tanaka rediscovered his passion for Flamenco and pursued further study in Seville and Madrid, Spain where he polished his technique studying with the Masters and developed and honed his soniquete (groove) and aire (feel) playing the guitar everyday amongst the gypsies. Tanaka continues to go back to Spain frequently to get inspired.

Tanaka's versatility as well as his virtuosity is rare among guitarists today; he shows impressive facility on the acoustic and electric guitars with both finger picking and plectrum technique.His Flamenco guitar styling are dictated by the situation - Tanaka is equally at home accompanying both authentic and popular flamenco styles, another quality amiss in most flamenco guitarists today.

José Tanaka has toured throughout United States, Europe, and Japan performed in many well-known places (Hollywood Bowl in LA, Olympia in Paris, Acropolis in Athens, Tarantos in Barcelona, El Flamenco in Tokyo etc.). Jose was invited as a soloist in the 2001~2002 Passion Latina Tour in France, Monte Carlo, Spain, Greece, and Germany performing alongside world famous opera singer Julia Migenes (who appeared as Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen) and collaborated with the director Scotty Morris (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s lead singer/songwriter).

Other noteworthy performances include appearances with David Williams (Guitarist from Madonna & Michael Jackson), Jonathan Moffett (drummer from Madonna & Michael Jackson), Joey Heredia, Eddie Miller (Keyboard from Whitney Houston & Bobby Brown), Rex Salas (producer Janet Jackson, TLC, Boys II Men.etc), Charlie Peterson (Earth Wind & Fire), Duane Benjamin (Earth Wind & Fire), Antonio Vargas (Ballroom Dancing and Mission impossible 2), Curro Fernandez (Famous Singer From Sevilla), Luis Peña, Antonio Cortez "Chiquitete", Domingo Ortega, Jorge Trasante (Gypsy King), Victor Villena (Gotan Project), La Tania, Ester Ponse (Dancer From Madrid), Cristobal Osorio, Juan Trivino, Omayra Amaya (Great grandniece of Carmen Amaya), Joaquin Encinias, Juan Antonio Suarez “Canito”, World famous wind player Pedro Eustache (Yani, Shakira, Alex Acuña’s Band), Top session guitarist Ramon Stagnaro, World famous drummer Efrain Toro, Gypsy singer from south France Cristo Cortez, Lakshmi, Jesus Montoya, Susana di Palma “Zorongo Flamenco”, Yaelisa’s Camino Flamenco and all the top artists in the United States.

Kambiz Pakan - (Guitarist) was born in 1971. In his childhood he listened to a relative playing the setar (traditional persian stringed instrument) which left a great impression on him and later drove him to pursue a unique sound from the guitar. In 1985 when he lived in Istanbul attended the international guitar festival. After this event he began his studies in music. He eventually moved to California and years later achieved a university degree from CSULB in ethnomusicology/flamencology with an honor. He has worked extensively as a guitarist in the USA. Years of living mainly in the cities of Granada and Jerez has given him a deep insight and perspective in the art of flamenco. Kambiz has traveled extensively in the world which also enriched his musical formation and has helped him aquire a distinct harmonic versatility and an extraordinary sensibility. He has performed on many prestigious stages in the USA, Spain, France, Portugal, Israel, India, Iran among others. He has recently moved back to southern California.