Past Work &
Works-In-Progress

In Portales – Muchos Mundos, PyA Artistic Director Elba Hevia y Vaca rediscovers her ancestors through music, movement, and blood memory. Portales is inspired by transformative ancestral research following the discovery that she was primarily Indigenous Bolivian, not Spanish, as she was raised to believe. This work not only highlights her own story, but sparks larger conversations about spirituality, ancestry, racism, sexism, and how our interpretation of history colors our sense of self.  

Portales is rooted in The Andean Cosmovision—an experience of reality that fosters mutually loving relationships to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the Cosmos. Weaving in and out of physical, cultural, and spiritual worlds, Portales reconciles contrasting identities, dance forms, and artistic mediums. Flamenco is integrated with contemporary and Kathak dance, ritualistic movement, and spoken word— inspired by shamanic ceremonies of the Andean people. The numerous portals we open and enter represent the multidimensionality of polyethnic people—a testament to our complex identities and ability to traverse many worlds.

In her new solo performance La Bolivianita, PyA founder and Artistic Director Elba Hevia y Vaca explores her lifelong artistic journey with Flamenco. First introduced to Flamenco through her family’s pride in their Spanish heritage, La Bolivianita delves into the artist’s emotional and changing relationship with her beloved art form. As the artist ages and comes to term with her recent discovery that she is primarily descended from the indigenous Andean rather than the Spaniards, La Bolivianita poses the question: Are we what we inherit? Says Hevia y Vaca, “I have come to realize that Flamenco will always be in my life and that we are inextricably intertwined. The work I’ve made in the past came from a Flamenco body and mind formed by many years of training, conditioning, and obeying rules which I have sought to challenge and decode. Now I’m focusing on embracing these codes and restrictions of Flamenco as elements to use and subvert, rather than as a tyranny to either follow or protest. In my new work, I’m examining this changed relationship while delving into my personal history and identity.”

La Bolivianita incorporates spoken word, the de-construction of modern Flamenco choreography, and culminates in an interactive dialogue with the audience. La Bolivianita is directed by world renowned Flamenco innovator, choreographer, and feminist artist Belen Maya (Spain), and will premiered at the 2019 Fringe Festival.

Grounded in a rich artistic history, My Voice, our Voice | Mi Voz, Nuestra Voz features the transcendent interplay of Flamenco dance and music, side-by-side with debut excerpts of a collaborative work by Pasion y Arte’s artistic director Elba Hevia y Vaca and choreographer Annie Wilson.  This work is an exploration between contemporary Flamenco and post modern dance and the effects of trauma on female/dancing bodies – how women embody it, how it changes our bodies, how it makes us move.

Original composition by Andres Arnold.

Set against the large scale paintings of noted Lithuanian design artists Ray Bartkus in the unique landscape of Drexel’s Pearlstein Gallery, Cosas de Mujeres (Things of Women) explores the possibilities of some of the many feminine objects that are widely used in the Flamenco language manton (shawl), abanico (fan), and bata de cola (long train) and what they mean for contemporary women. How do these objects allow us to explore femininity? Is there room for such femininity in our culture? What does the world see when we embrace that part of ourselves? This work also continues a conversation between post modern and Flamenco with modern dance artist KC Chun-Manning of Flesh Blood, adding a layer of contemporary texture and a fresh look at femininity and what it means for women.

This piece enters into the inner world of women as they experience the phases of mourning surrounding the death of a shared loved one. Each dancer represents the many phases of mourning such as anger, sadness, rejection, nostalgia and denial. Through the traditions of Flamenco and Afro-Cuban music, this work expresses the modern, changing face of Flamenco.

This piece deconstructs stereotypical impressions of three different historic-religious female archetypes. A journey that explores the boundaries of the Flamenco tradition through movement and non-traditional Flamenco music. The visual landscape incorporates original footage of multiple close-up images of the three women dancing. This set invites the viewer into the intimate space of each woman and creates a dialogue with the viewer. The women dance in dialogue with the projected versions of themselves and with each other, moving in and out of each other’s mirrors, space, and time.

This trilogy explores the female psyche through our experience of dance in three parts:

Part1, Loss of Innocence-Awareness,
Part II, Duality-Masculinity; and
Part III, Evolution-Woman.

Each section has a theme and consequent choice of choreography, cast, music, video set, and costume.  The piece is firmly rooted in Flamenco traditions, but introduces multi-disciplinary elements through various musical genres, cross-disciplinary choreography, and video images that create a visual landscape and set.

The Body Remembers features six female dancers of multicultural and multi-generational backgrounds who use the language of Flamenco to investigate the shared collective experience stored in their bodies as historical memories. Choreographically, this work explores Hevia y Vaca’s continued interest in using contemporary forms of dance along with traditional Flamenco styles. 

Rooted in the Flamenco art form’s cante (deep song), toque (guitar), and baile (dance), this work challenges tradition through its choreography and staging. It is a thorough exploration of women’s differences and how these differences have the ability to unite rather than divide. It explores a new vocabulary by using rigid, primal, instinctual references and an aggressive demeanor, which creates an uncharacteristic aesthetic for women in Flamenco. This collaboration with artist Adál Maldonado incorporated a visual landscape that further expands the environment.