Co-produced by the Flamenco Biennial Netherlands, Bi Flamenko – a festival blending tradition and modern-day sensitivities – is the first Flamenco Biennial in Ljubljana and marks the beginning of a resounding contemporary flamenco festival tradition in Slovenia, with a festival that will spread it wings over the region. Classical instruments enhanced by electronica, classical flamenco steps combined with contemporary dance beats, and Mediterranean temperament meeting African and Arabic rhythms.
From 9 till 13 February 2018 Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana will sparkle and buzz with flamenco, from cutting edge to traditional. Audiences can expect five days filled with flamenco performed by famous stars as well as up-and-coming talent, who together make up the vanguard of flamenco in Spain. A new crop of flamenco makers explore the boundaries of the ancient flamenco art and bring tradition and experiment together in extraordinary concerts and performances. Combining tradition with innovation, their performances offer a new and surprising – contemporary views on flamenco.
The Festival’s central guest, dancer, choreographer and flamenco’s greatest star, Rocío Molina will present her project Fallen From Heaven. Passionate and impeccably danced, Molina’s unparalleled work veers between traditional flamenco steps, electric guitars, rock drums and harsh male vocals – epitomizing the art of a sensitive, delicate and unique woman. Sara Cano’s first project, A Palo Seco (Straight Out) is a personal reinvention of heritage, a quest for originality. Delving into creative exploration of various dance traditions, a dancer and a singer, Alberto Fuentes, journey across continents – from Asia to South America – to sculpt a unique and unequalled work that radiates pure flamenco energy. Devised in partnership with musician Enrique Tomas, exquisite dancer Ana Morales’s latest project – Bagatelles fuses live electronics and contemporary flamenco and swaps traditional instruments for computer-programed soundscapes. A project by Slovenian flamenco artist will receive its premiere. A crossbreed between a brash rock concert and flamenco choreography ‘peppered with’ performance art, Firebird is the first creative collaboration between dancer and performance artist Ana Pandur Predin and musician Giani Poposki, lead vocalist of Noctiferia, an internationally renowned heavy-metal band.
The Bi Flamenko music programme includes bands fusing traditional flamenco with elements of jazz and Persian classical music. The Qasida, an extraordinary musical encounter between the young Sevillian cantaora Rosario ‘La Tremendita’ and her Iranian peer Mohammad Motamedi, explores the roots of flamenco in richly varied poetic songs and improvisations by Motamedi, a young rising star of Iranian classical music and the shining embodiment of reinvented musical tradition. What emerges is a fresh insight into age-long traditions involving delicate, passionate outpourings of the heart.
The Festival’s opening night will spotlight the Diego Carrasco Family Band. In flamenco universe, Diego Carrasco is to singing what Israel Galvan is to dance. Under his leadership, a whole generation of artists imbue flamenco with jazz, pop and rock without jeopardising tradition. The Bi Flamenco Festival’s concluding event will feature a flamenco jazz phenomenon, Alfonso Aroca. An incredibly talented pianist, composer, arranger and teacher, Aroca infuses flamenco with a flaming jazz spirit. Alfonso transcribed traditional flamenco guitar for the keyboard and emerged as one of the most vital beacons of flamenco piano. He has surrounded himself with a quintet of first-rate young musicians; the show’s energetic centre is the lethally seductive dancer Abel Harana.
From 9 till 13 February 2018 Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana will sparkle and buzz with flamenco, from cutting edge to traditional. Audiences can expect five days filled with flamenco performed by famous stars as well as up-and-coming talent, who together make up the vanguard of flamenco in Spain. A new crop of flamenco makers explore the boundaries of the ancient flamenco art and bring tradition and experiment together in extraordinary concerts and performances. Combining tradition with innovation, their performances offer a new and surprising – contemporary views on flamenco.
The Festival’s central guest, dancer, choreographer and flamenco’s greatest star, Rocío Molina will present her project Fallen From Heaven. Passionate and impeccably danced, Molina’s unparalleled work veers between traditional flamenco steps, electric guitars, rock drums and harsh male vocals – epitomizing the art of a sensitive, delicate and unique woman. Sara Cano’s first project, A Palo Seco (Straight Out) is a personal reinvention of heritage, a quest for originality. Delving into creative exploration of various dance traditions, a dancer and a singer, Alberto Fuentes, journey across continents – from Asia to South America – to sculpt a unique and unequalled work that radiates pure flamenco energy. Devised in partnership with musician Enrique Tomas, exquisite dancer Ana Morales’s latest project – Bagatelles fuses live electronics and contemporary flamenco and swaps traditional instruments for computer-programed soundscapes. A project by Slovenian flamenco artist will receive its premiere. A crossbreed between a brash rock concert and flamenco choreography ‘peppered with’ performance art, Firebird is the first creative collaboration between dancer and performance artist Ana Pandur Predin and musician Giani Poposki, lead vocalist of Noctiferia, an internationally renowned heavy-metal band.
The Bi Flamenko music programme includes bands fusing traditional flamenco with elements of jazz and Persian classical music. The Qasida, an extraordinary musical encounter between the young Sevillian cantaora Rosario ‘La Tremendita’ and her Iranian peer Mohammad Motamedi, explores the roots of flamenco in richly varied poetic songs and improvisations by Motamedi, a young rising star of Iranian classical music and the shining embodiment of reinvented musical tradition. What emerges is a fresh insight into age-long traditions involving delicate, passionate outpourings of the heart.
The Festival’s opening night will spotlight the Diego Carrasco Family Band. In flamenco universe, Diego Carrasco is to singing what Israel Galvan is to dance. Under his leadership, a whole generation of artists imbue flamenco with jazz, pop and rock without jeopardising tradition. The Bi Flamenco Festival’s concluding event will feature a flamenco jazz phenomenon, Alfonso Aroca. An incredibly talented pianist, composer, arranger and teacher, Aroca infuses flamenco with a flaming jazz spirit. Alfonso transcribed traditional flamenco guitar for the keyboard and emerged as one of the most vital beacons of flamenco piano. He has surrounded himself with a quintet of first-rate young musicians; the show’s energetic centre is the lethally seductive dancer Abel Harana.