An evening of authentic flamenco dancing and music is coming to the Bayview Community Hall on South Whidbey.
Dancer Savannah Fuentes and singer/multi-instrumentalist Diego Amador Jr, will present “Night Flowers, an evening of Flamenco” at 8 p.m. on July 20.
The show is kicking off their West Coast tour.
Fuentes is originally from Seattle but has performed on Whidbey Island many times. She said while she has a Spanish last name, growing up she didn’t feel connected to that side of her heritage. Her father is Puerto Rican but grew up in a military family in Germany.
Fuentes said she found a connection to her culture through flamenco dancing. She began studying flamenco and has now toured all throughout the Western United States.
“With an emphasis on having a good flamenco singer with me,” she said about her performances. “Because the singing is really the heart and soul of the art form.”
Diego Amador Jr. is the son of a flamenco legend, Fuentes said. Amador, who lives in Spain, is a renowned vocalist, guitarist and pianist.
The three things every flamenco performance has are a guitarist, a singer and a dancer. At this show, Amador will also play piano.
“It’s really amazing to have this traditional flamenco show, and then this switch into this more jazzy mode, and it just changes the whole energy of the show,” Fuentes said
Originating in southern Spain, flamenco music is different from Western music in its rhythm and time signatures. Flamenco dancing is expressive and percussive and has its origins in Indian dancing.
“You can see it in the arm movements,” Fuentes said.
Indian dancers are barefoot and flamenco dancers wear shoes, but the footwork is similar.
Fuentes only likes to dance to live music to feel as connected to it as possible.
“It’s definitely just a live, organic, living art form and that’s what I love about it,” she said.
Fuentes describes her shows as intimate. Flamenco music often has sad themes and causes people to feel deeply.
“To me it’s just like a garden that we create – that I create – but we all create together because we’re all together in this, just for this time,” she said of why the show is called “Night Flowers.”
Fuentes would like young people who maybe don’t know much about flamenco music to come see the show.
“Anyone who feels drawn to it should come and see it because it’s just super unique,” she said. “It’s so different.”
Tickets for “Night Flowers” are available at eventbrite.com.
Photo provided by Savannah Fuentes Savanna Fuentes will be performing traditional flamenco dancing.
