Festival of the Feet
Anchored by acclaimed guest artists, flamenco guitarist Juanito Pascual and his Nuevo Flamenco Ensemble, this concert will also highlight percussive dance genres from three regions; Andalusian flamenco performed by Nelida Tirado, North Indian kathak performed by Anjali Nath, and North American tap dance performed by Ian Berg. The first portion of the concert focuses deeply on the flamenco ensemble, illustrating the driving force of “duende” that pervades the music and dance. We then explore flamenco’s historic connection with North Indian “kathakas” or nomadic musical storytellers, whose path west, it is said, influenced and overlapped with the nomadic Rom in Andalusia. Then we fast forward and westward to the New World, where another percussive style is born from African roots mixed with Northern European stylings, in the quintessentially American genre of tap. The thru-line of percussive dance is explored in this lively and soulful performance, finishing w an explosive collaboration.