Kasandra and Nieto  

mozaicoAl Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy
Café de Chinitas

Date and Venue 28 March 2013, 12pm | Scotiabank Dance Centre, Granville St.

Musicians Guitarist Gareth Owen, Cellist  Cyrena "La Sirena", Erhu Lan Tung, Percussion Jonathan Bernard, Male voxVicente Griego, (Invited guest singer), Female vox Jafelin Helten Dancers:Michelle Harding, Shyiang Strong, Andrea Williams, Kasandra "La China"

Reviewer Ed Farolan

A full-house audience at the Scotiabank Dance Centre was treated to a 45-minute flamenco-Asian dance performance, a prelude to this company's upcoming peformance on May 3 and 4 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre. Inspired by the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, excerpts of Café de Chinitas, a fusion of Asian and Flamenco music was performed by this troupe. Created by Oscar Nieto who started "Mozaico de Danzas" in Los Angeles in 1972, he created Mozaico Flamenco in 1983, in Vancouver, with co-founder Kasandra "La China".

What makes Nieto's unorthodox approach interesting is incorporating flamenco with non-traditional instruments such as electric guitar, base, congas and Chinese instruments such as the erhu. The colourful costumes and dances also exuded a fusion of the oriental and the flamenco .

Music by Spain's Gaspar Rodriguez and Vancouver's Orchid Ensemble, Café de Chinitas explores the power and variety of human emotions surrounding love, jealousy, sorrow, confusion, pain, anger and joy. The poem is based on Federico Garcia Lorca's tale of a jealous rivalry between two matador brothers, Paquiro, and Frasquelo.

This was indeed a unique flamenco show and I look forward to seeing the full presentaion in May.

© 2013 Ed Farolan