Waterloo Region Record

A glimpse into the world of flamenco

- MARTIN DE GROOT Special to The Record Martin De Groot writes about local arts and culture each Saturday. You can reach him by email at mdg131@gmail.com.

The first “Little KW Flamenco Fest” happens this coming week: three days of workshops and “a spectacula­r closing show.”

The aim is to offer a glimpse into the world of flamenco: the dance, the music, the history.

The “little” signifies a modest, friendly approach. This is community-building as much as it is an artistic endeavour.

It is also a reference to the venue where the closing show will take place on Thursday evening: the KW Little Theatre space in uptown Waterloo.

Leading up to the finale is a sequence of workshops, one for children followed by one for teens on Tuesday, and a session for grown-ups on Wednesday.

This event is “family-friendly” in the broadest sense: it’s for parents with children, but also for people of all ages, background­s and levels of experience with music or dance, including none at all.

Flamenco itself family-oriented: it began as a folk art, practised within and among families. There are leading families with generation­s of flamenco artists.

This is also one of the few art forms where it is said that practition­ers get better with age. Feeling and attitude are more important than form, and duende , or soul of the art form, requires some emotional maturity.

Putting something like this together is no small feat. The prime movers here are flamenco singer and dancer Claudia Aguirre and guitarist Julian Berg. Together, they are the CaluJules Flamenco Plus Arts School in Waterloo.

The aim is to make Waterloo and area “part of Canada’s growing flamenco scene … through collaborat­ions with fellow flamenco schools and artists.”

Flamenco originated in Andalusia and adjacent areas in southern Spain.

It represents a fusion of artistic traditions: Roma, Jewish, Islamic, Christian; European, Indian, Middle Eastern, North and West African.

Today there are more flamenco schools in Japan than there are in Spain. The background­s of the artists involved in our Little Flamenco Fest illustrate the global dimension of the art form:

Originally from Oslo, Norway, Julian Berg trained with the renowned flamenco guitarist Paco Peña while studying at the Codarts Conservanc­y in Rotterdam, Netherland­s.

Claudia Aguirre grew up in Scarboroug­h. Her training in Spanish dance began with one of Toronto’s flamenco and Spanish dance pioneers, Paula Moreno.

Berg discovered the world of flamenco through a YouTube video he came across as a digital gaming enthusiast. For Aguirre, it was a performanc­e at a restaurant her mother took her to for her 12th birthday.

Claudia and Julian met in Spain. For the workshops, they’ll be joined by guest artist Josie Sinnadurai, a Welsh-born flamenco dancer and educator whose work takes her all over the world.

David Sinclair, who will open the stage show on Thursday with

a talk and CD signing, is a Toronto-born artist who studied classical guitar at Wilfrid Laurier University. He eventually dedicated himself completely to Flamenco music, and has lived in Granada, Spain, since 2005.

The other special guest for the closing show is our own Juneyt Yetkiner, Nuevo-flamenco guitarist extraordin­aire, who was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey.

When I connected with Juneyt, indirectly, about his involvemen­t, he emphasized family in yet another sense: “Since the day I came to Canada about 20 years ago,” he told me, “this was my dream — to have a flamenco family and make people aware of this fascinatin­g art form. Recently I’ve met a brilliant couple, whom I now consider my ‘flamenco family’ — Julian & Claudia. Thanks to them now my dream has come true.”

 ?? MICHAEL ZENDER PHOTOGRAPH­Y ?? Claudia Aguirre, piectured, and guitarist Julian Berg are the prime movers behind Little KW Flamenco Fest.
MICHAEL ZENDER PHOTOGRAPH­Y Claudia Aguirre, piectured, and guitarist Julian Berg are the prime movers behind Little KW Flamenco Fest.
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