Aurora Reyes bailando flamenco. Foto cortesía
Flamenco Latino is thrilled to announce its 2024 Más Allá Series, which runs until Saturday, August 24, 2024. The annual Más Allá (“Way Beyond”) Series, which has been a part of Flamenco Latino since 2015, represents the company’s most creative, innovative offering within the world of Flamenco dance and music. For more info, visit https://www.flamencolatino.com/
This year’s series centers on the tongue in cheek notion that “We’ve Been Here Before,” a direct response to the rise of authoritarian ideas in United States, told through lyrics both sung and rapped, and above all, through movement. The 2024 Más Allá Series features guest artists Omar Edwards, tap and Paige Stewart, hip-hop, who each compliment Flamenco Latino’s creative mission and style. The Más Allá Series continues to produce innovative flamenco with salsa, jazz, blues and hip-hop flavors.
Thursday, August 1, 2024, 7:30pm – 8:45pm
*For group discounts, call 347-771-2440
Panel Discussion with Q&A: “The Nature of Combining Flamenco, Tap and Hip-Hop” with Aurora Reyes,
Basilio Georges, Omar Edwards and Paige Stewart | FREE
The Secret Theatre, 38-02 61st St, Woodside NY 11377
Wednesday, August 14, 2024, 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Flamenco Latino in Concert | $30, $15 Students/Seniors — Call for Group Discounts, 347-771-2440
The Secret Theatre, 38-02 61st St, Woodside NY 11377
Friday, August 23, 2024, 7:30pm – 8:45pm
Flamenco Latino in Concert | $30, $15 Students/Seniors — Call for Group Discounts, 347-771-2440
The Secret Theatre, 38-02 61st St, Woodside NY 11377
Saturday, August 24, 2024, 7:30pm – 8:45pm
Watch Party of Performance Highlights | FREE
Flamenco Latino Youtube and Facebook Channels
Thursday, October 24, 2024, 7:30pm – 8:30pm
This Flamenco Latino’s 2024 Más Allá Series is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts
Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City
Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.
About the Artists
Aurora Reyes, dancer, choreographer, singer, and co-founder and artistic director of Flamenco Latino, has
performed in both Spain and New York. Her heritage is Valencian and Galician. Aurora has been dancing
Flamenco for 40 years, and choreographing for 23 years. She was drawn to Flamenco through her Spanish
descent. Aurora’s willingness to experiment in collaboration with Basilio Georges has produced flamenco heelwork,
which authentically replicates the rhythms played in Latin music by the congas, bongos and timbales. Most of
Flamenco Latino’s repertoire has been choreographed and staged by Ms. Reyes. Her work fuses her wide
knowledge of traditional flamenco dance with diverse dancers and musicians of various traditions. Ms. Reyes
choreographed a Flamenco Mambo, El Yoyo, fusing traditional steps from both idioms in collaboration with
company member Yvonne Gutierrez, performed at The Duke Theatre on 42nd Street (2002). She set Danzon
choreography and commissioned renowned Salsa dancer/choreographer Eddie Torres to set the Mambo-Cha
section, which she adapted for Mas Allá que el Danzon Cha, performed at Pace Schimmel Theatre, (1999). Since
2018, She has cultivated a corps of up and coming dancers through five seasons with the Queensboro Dance
Festival which included an exploration of blues and flamenco in 2020 “Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane.” She
choreographed several numbers included in the 2021 Danisarte production “Lorca Siempre,” and expanded and
reworked them for Flamenco Latino’s 2021 Mås Allá Series. Choreographies performed at Flamenco Latino Dance
Studio Theatre, 2012-2016 include: La Rumba Cubana y Flamenca (2012), Flamenco Gumbo I (2015), and
Flamenco Gumbo II (2016). Aurora danced in the tablao Corral de la Pacheca, 1985-86, and toured the U.S. with
Jose Molina Bailes Españoles, 1983-85. She has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Angel Gil Orrios, director of
Thalia Spanish Theatre, singing, choreographing and acting in all 3 of Mr. Gil’s Picasso productions including
Deseo Cogido por El Rabo (1989), Las Cuatro Niñitas (2003), and El FlamenConde de Orgaz (2008). Additionally,
she choreographed Angel’s flamenco/tap musical Amor Latino (2009), based on “Romeo and Juliet” and “West
Side Story.” Aurora choreographed flamenco tablao scenes and Entremedio sections for Carmen for Knoxville
Opera, 2005, and original works for five seasons for Andrea Del Conte Danza España, 1995-2000. She has taught
Flamenco and Salsa residencies through Young Audiences of NY and Community Works (1999-2013), and was an
adjunct instructor in World Dance/Latin Styles at Stony Brook University (1995-2002).
Basilio Georges is a flamenco guitarist, singer and composer, and co-founder and executive director of Flamenco
Latino, who has shared both artistic and managerial responsibilities for the organization. His heritage is Greek
Orthodox on his father’s side and Russian/Jewish on his mother’s side. His early professional career includes
working in NYC as both a jazz and salsa musician. He began studying flamenco in 1977, and his first touring work
was with Jose Molina Bailes Españoles from 1983-85. He honed many accompaniment skills playing for classes in
Madrid dance studios and played for many local singers at various flamenco peñas in Madrid and Sevilla during the
1980s. Most recently, he has composed music for dancers and actors in Danisarte’s “Lorca Siempre (Lorca
Forever) 2021. He has also composed and recorded music for Aurora Reyes choreographies for the Queensboro
Dance Festival, 2017-2021. Basilio wrote the music and arrangements for the 2009 Thalia Spanish Theater
production “Amor Latino” and collaborated director Angel Gil Orrios, to mount the only staged versions of two of the
3 plays written by Pablo Picasso. These were “Las Cuatro Niñitas” and “FlamenConde de Orgaz” produced by
Thalia in 2003 and 2008. From 1987-2000 he composed and arranged for Carlota Santana Flamenco Vivo, Andrea
Del Conte Danza España. His most recent CDs include “Retrospectiva Vol. 1: It’s About Damn Time” and “Cante
Flamenco in Nueva York” with Luis Vargas, and is working on “Acabo de Empezar,” to be released in 2024. He
played the guitar intro to Pedro Almodovar’s film “High Heels.” Basilio initiated Flamenco Latino’s acquisition of a
commercial dance studio in 2006, and strategized the development of year-round weekly adult and children’s
classes, performances on-site, outreach to school and community organizations, workshops with guest artists from
Spain, and a studio rental business.
Omar Edwards is an African American tap dancer, entertainer, and musician who has been dancing since age of
12. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Omar draws his art from 23 years of experiences and formal training with masters
like Henry Letang, Jimmy Slyde, and Marie Brooks. In 1994, he earned national acclaim when he and partner
Daniel B. Wooten Jr. won the grand prize on “Star Search.” The same year he began an international tour of the hit
show “Black and Blue” and later became a featured dancer in the Broadway show “Bring In Da Noise, Bring in Da
Funk.” During this time, he evolved a lyrical style of rhythm dancing and became a high-thinking philosopher of tap
dance, resurrecting earth-stomping rhythms into their highest spiritual dimensions. Tap dance for Edwards is a
spiritual journey. Omar Edwards later produced experimental works, which in the sheer audacity of their conception, distinguished him as a wildly imaginative and free jazz artist. At Minton’s, the infamous be-bop after- hours jazz club in Harlem, Edwards would show up with his band, Seven Less, and a large black box. He designed a box that the audience could not see him enter or leave. The box covered him from his head to his knees. Only his feet were visible. In this way Edwards challenged audiences to focus attention on disembodied sounds. He
continued making appearances with his black platform box at open microphone jazz clubs such as the Iridium,
Smoke, Showman’s, and Saint Nick’s Pub. Omar Edwards’ career spans the world of music, dance, television,
theatre, and film. In 1998, he recorded “Tap Dancin is Music,” being the first of his generation to release an album
where the dancer is the leader of the band. TV appearances include starring as the “Sandman” on “Showtime at
the Apollo” for seven years. He appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was featured in the musical movie
“Camp.” Concert credits include performing with Alicia Keys live at the Hollywood Bowl and with Savion Glover live
at the White House. Omar has taken his concept, which he now calls “Afro Feet: Music and Beyond,” on tour
throughout Europe and Asia. The performance at JCAL will mark his third season of collaboration with Flamenco
Latino.
Paige “Queen TuT” Stewart is from Queens, New York. Working as a dance teacher at various public schools,
dance schools and arts centers as well as all over the Tri-state area instructing the youth in the movement &and
dance. Her passions are a combination of spoken word poetry, physical poetry, and a love of performing. She
maintains a well-rounded worth ethic and encompasses a dedication that can’t be matched. Diagnosed with Lupus
and Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of twelve, she continues to move through the oncoming challenges as well as
continues to inspire and evoke passion through everything she does.
Fascinated by the love of her favorite hip hop dance technique “Tutting,” she has dedicated her training around
popping dance styles. The Tutting style was originally practiced by young funk dancers and is derived from the
positions people were drawn in the days of the Ancient Egyptians. It is these positions seen in these portraits that
have been adopted by dancers today. So, when you “tut” you change the angles of your arms according to the
beat. Those who are more experienced pop when changing from angle to angle thus refining the style. Tutting is
still a greatly respected move and “King Tut” aka Mark Benson is widely acclaimed for pioneering the style. Not to
be confused with King TuT as deep as the history is, Paige’s style is way simpler. Paige explains, “Queen TuT
signifies the divine right to master my craft. Any of us can be a King or Queen of our craft. What is yours?” The
2024 Más Allá Series will represent Paige’s second year of collaboration with Flamenco Latino.
About Flamenco Latino
Since inception in 1979, Flamenco Latino’s professional company has explored and developed the genre known
as Ida y Vuelta. This “Round Trip” genre had its birth during the late 18th century, when Spain and other countries
in Europe were influenced by Latino dance and music, most notably the Cuban Habanera and Rumba, which led to
flamenco tangos, tanguillo and rumba.
Flamenco Latino’s recent Más Allá Series has pushed flamenco boundaries. Flamenco dance structures have been
flavored with jazz, blues and salsa, and have included the collaboration of tap dancers like Omar Edwards.
Productions like “Flamenco Gumbo I & II” combined flamenco with the music of New Orleans, the northernmost
Caribbean city. Since 2018, Flamenco Latino has presented its Series in collaboration with Jamaica Center for Arts
and Learning.
Going back 30 years, Flamenco Latino’s interpretation of Ida y Vuelta included exploration of flamenco guajiras and
many rumba styles, such as Peret, Bambino and the Gipsy Kings. It has also created many unusual
amalgamations referencing mambo, cha-cha, danzon, bomba y plena, cumbia and merengue. Drawing on Basilio
Georges’ early professional career as a jazz musician, the music has reflected many jazz harmonic and
improvisatory concepts.
With such a career reference, Flamenco Latino produced a great deal of exciting and innovative repertoire
presented in Seasons at Pace University and the Duke Theater, and through touring from 1997 to 2006. It has gone
even further with collaborations at Thalia Spanish Theatre from 2003-2009, where Director Angel Gil Orrios
involved Flamenco Latino to interpret the art of Picasso through plays written by the artist, and through “Amor
Latino,” a musical involving both tap and flamenco. From 2006-2016, Flamenco Latino ran a Studio Theater space
in Midtown Manhattan where they offered classes in dance, guitar, cante and palmas for adults and children,
presented performances and recitals, and produced workshops with artists from Spain.
Flamenco Latino currently offers both live and online classes and performances. Classes are offered at studios in
Jackson Hts. Queens, and in Greenwich Village Manhattan.
