Artist Bios:

Elba Hevia Y Vaca,  Pasión y Arte 

Dancer, Artistic/Executive Director and Founder of Pasión y Arte

Born in La Paz, Bolivia, she began her study of classical Spanish dance at the age of five. She later studied and danced with the Ana Martinez Flamenco Dance Company and with Raquel Peña Spanish Dance Company, both Washington D.C. based companies. She has appeared as a soloist at the Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Wilma Theater, and at numerous venues and universities across the U.S.  Since moving to Philadelphia, she has continued her study of modern dance, jazz, and contact improvisation and her study of flamenco through annual visits to Spain. In 2000, Hevia y Vaca founded Pasión y Arte out of a strong and intensely personal conviction that highly stylized traditional Spanish flamenco dance is a perfect vessel to empower women. These values have been reflected in the nine original, critically acclaimed works she has created for PyA, and in the numerous grants, fellowships, and accolades awarded to Hevia y Vaca and PyA. She presented two city-wide Flamenco Festivals in 2012 and 2014 featuring Israel and Pastora Galvan, Rosario Toledo, and Dani De Moron, and has hosted residencies with such flamenco icons as Belen Maya, Alejandro Granados, Raquel Heredia, Carmen Ledesma, and many more.  She conducts master classes throughout the US, teaches various levels of Flamenco at her West Philadelphia studio, as well as being and Senior Adjunct at Franklyn & Marshal and Adjunct at Temple University.

Fernando López Rodriguez.  HISTORIA QUEER DEL FLAMENCO. Desvíos, transiciones y retornos en el baile flamenco (1808-2018)

Contemporary flamenco artist and dance researcher

Fernando López Rodríguez es bailaor, coreógrafo e investigador en danza. Doctor en Estética, Ciencias y Tecnologías de las Artes por la Universidad Paris VIII, posee una doble formación en Filosofía y en Artes Escénicas. Desde 2009 dirige su propio proyecto coreográfico para el que ha creado e interpretado piezas como H2-Ohno (2014), Bailar en hombre (2015), DeCid (2016), Intimo Interior Meo (2016), Pensaor (2018) o Too easy to see (2018). Asimismo, ha colaborado como director artístico y asesor con artistas como Juan Carlos Lérida, Olga Pericet, José Manuel Álvarez y Belén Maya. En 2015 recibió el I Premio de Investigación en Danza, otorgado por la Academia de las Artes Escénicas de España. En 2016, la editorial Egales publicó su libro 2De puertas para adentro. Disidencia sexual y disconformidad de género en la tradición flamenca".

———

Fernando López Rodríguez is a dancer, choreographer and researcher in dance. Doctor in Aesthetics, Sciences and Technologies of the Arts from the Paris VIII University, he has a double training in Philosophy and in Performing Arts. Since 2009 he has directed his own choreographic project for which he has created and performed pieces such as H2-Ohno (2014), Bailar en hombre (2015), DeCid (2016), Intimo Interior Meo (2016), Pensaor (2018) or Too easy to see (2018). Likewise, he has collaborated as artistic director and advisor with artists such as Juan Carlos Lérida, Olga Pericet, José Manuel Álvarez and Belén Maya. In 2015 she received the 1st Prize for Research in Dance, awarded by the Academy of Performing Arts of Spain. In 2016, the Egales publishing house published his book 2De puerta para inside. Sexual dissent and gender disagreement in the flamenco tradition ".

Niurca  Márquez,  Nu Flamenco

Experimental flamenco artist and researcher

Niurca Márquez is an artist/researcher with a wide range, as a creator and performer in film, site-specific work, and staged performance. Her work has been commissioned by and presented on various curatorial platforms in Europe and the US. She has worked tirelessly on presenting new works that examine notions of identity, cultural memory, and ritual in flamenco within a contemporary framework, as well as, works that delve into the multiple layers of communication and understanding in the form. She continuously examines the many intersections of tradition and vanguard to create new languages and expressions embedded in flamenco but informed by contemporary practices in dance and theater: a reflection on the work’s historical placement and potential implications within a contemporary dance setting.

Sonia Franco Gutierrez,  Sonia Libre

Bailaora, Actriz, Coreógrafa

Sonia Libre es Sonia Franco Gutiérrez, bailarina, coreógrafa y bailaora madrileña que ha estrenado espectáculos de danza en medio mundo. Forma parte de la CIA de Sara Baras y de la CIA Musical Impro, combinado con su proyecto personal “Ser.Rana”, becado en el Certamen Coreografico de Danza Española y Flamenco por la CIA Carlota Santana de Nueva York. En 2013 entra a formar parte de la CIA de María Pagés con la gira mundial del espectáculo “Yo Carmen”. En 2015 entra en la CIA de Pedro Córdoba para bailar en el prestigioso tablao de Japón “El Flamenco”. Colabora en la CIA Malucos Danza de Carlos Chamorro. Actualmente es coreógrafa de la CIA de teatro y danza Musical Impro, donde dirige el movimiento en la obra Loser y Vida, que se estrena en New York.

———

Dancer, Actress, Choreographer

Sonia Libre is Sonia Franco Gutiérrez, a dancer, choreographer and bailaora from Madrid who has premiered dance shows all over the world. He is part of the CIA of Sara Baras and of the CIA Musical Impro, combined with his personal project "Ser.Rana", awarded a scholarship in the Choreographic Contest of Spanish Dance and Flamenco by the CIA Carlota Santana in New York. In 2013 he joined the CIA of María Pagés with the world tour of the show “Yo Carmen”. In 2015 he joined Pedro Córdoba's CIA to dance at the prestigious Japanese tablao “El Flamenco”. Collaborates in the CIA Malucos Danza de Carlos Chamorro. She is currently a choreographer for the Musical Impro theater and dance CIA, where she directs the movement in the play Loser y Vida, which opens in New York.