Events
Pasion y Arte offers a range of programing throughout the year. For over twenty years, PyA has brought a variety of Flamenco events to the greater Philadelphia region. Please visit us to learn about new classes, workshops with visiting international Flamenco artists, PyA company performances, and free community events.
“It’s all dance, and it’s all art.”
Upcoming Events
Please visit our Conservatory page for more information on our classes and events, or use the calendar to the right.
For General Inquiries please email:
info@pasionyarteflamenco.org
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Presenting new Elba Hevia y Vaca´s work in progress “Portales” at the
READING FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
on October 8Th.
Past Events
Tablao Philly (2015-2016)
In 2015-2016, PyA presented Tablao Philly, which featured world class artists Rosario Toledo, La Meira, Almudena Serrano, and Raquel Heredia. Held at the Asian Arts Initiative, Tablao Philly recreated the feeling of the Tablao setting in a carefully curated and intimate venue. While contemporary Tablaos exist throughout Spain, Japan, and elsewhere, Philadelphia, despite its vibrant Latino, Flamenco, and dance communities, had no Tablao of its own until this series was presented with support from PNC Arts Alive.
Tablaos are exciting improvisational Flamenco performances that take place in casual venues, much like what occurs at a jazz club or at a poetry reading. Tablaos are still staged in clubs the world over, while new generations of Flamenco artists now create more formally choreographed and experimental work which are presented in major theaters and performing arts centers.
Flamenco emerged as a unique art form in the 15th century. Spanish Gypsies (or Roma) danced Flamenco privately in their rural homes. The dance gradually migrated from the countryside to the cities in the south of Spain, where Gypsy artists performed on the streets and in plazas. By the 1840s, nightclubs called “Cafes del Cante” began to host Flamenco Tablaos, giving Flamencos the opportunity to demonstrate their extraordinary skills at improvisation movement within the confines of strict musical and rhythmic structures. The cafes were the first enterprises to pay Flamenco dancers, singers, and musicians and commercial Flamenco was born.
From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, highly acclaimed Flamenco artists danced in Cafes del Cante. Tablao performances helped Flamenco to grow in expressive range and aesthetic precision, exposing non-Gypsy audiences to the art form.
Whether you love Flamenco or are entirely new to its traditions, the spirited gatherings of the Tablao are a unique opportunity to learn more about and fall in love with this vibrant art form.
PyA continues to perform Tablao style performances throughout Philadelphia.
“Tablao Philly presents Flamenco up close and beautiful.”
Philadelphia Flamenco Festival (2014)
Philadelphia’s second bi-annual Flamenco Festival was presented by PyA and showcased new groundbreaking work by “one of Flamenco’s greatest mavericks,” Israel Galván, and his sister, Pastora Galván. The Festival also welcomed the triumphant return of modern-feminist Flamenco artist, Rosario Toledo.
“At its best, art makes us see the world in a new way. And, as I was leaving the theater, a young woman said to her friend: “I’m totally different, now!” Exactly so.”
Philadelphia Flamenco Festival (2012)
In 2012, PyA launched the first Philadelphia Flamenco Festival thanks to generous grants from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. The Festival broadened PyA’s impact through partnership with a wide range of Philadelphia organizations, as well as 20 artists and 4 scholars from the U.S. and abroad, including masters from Spain of different genders who are also exploring feminist and other innovative approaches to Flamenco. These artists included Rosario Toledo and Israel and Pastora Galván. The Festival encompassed performances, lectures, classes, workshops, and film screenings, reaching more than 5,000 audience members and establishing Philadelphia as a world center of forward-thinking Flamenco.
“When we walked out of the theater we knew we had seen something rare and extraordinary, especially for this corner of the world.”
Community Events
First Friday Juerga are ongoing free community jam sessions where all are welcome.
A juerga is a kind of Flamenco jam session where there is no distinction between audience and performers and everyone takes part, supporting each other in collective playing, singing, and dancing. The atmosphere and camaraderie a juerga creates are much like that of a southern American gospel service and a “juerga flamenca” can easily attain the proportions of a religious ritual.
The unique component in PyA’s juergas is that the invitation to participate is open to all genres of music, singing, dance, and spoken word. The goal is to create new Flamenco languages from different traditions. Special guest musicians and dancers – both professional flamencos, students, aficionados, artists from other Latino and non-Latino traditions – are invited to each juerga.
At the beginning of each event, PyA Artistic Director Elba Hevia y Vaca gives a short lecture on the history of Flamenco, its components – cante (deep song), baile (dance), and toque (guitar) – and a mini-lesson so that the people present can become familiar with Flamenco’s traditions.