Soledad Barrio, foreground, and Noche Flamenca give a demonstration last Saturday at Field Arts & Events Hall, where they will give two performances this weekend. (Nora Pitaro/Field Arts & Events Hall)

Soledad Barrio, foreground, and Noche Flamenca give a demonstration last Saturday at Field Arts & Events Hall, where they will give two performances this weekend. (Nora Pitaro/Field Arts & Events Hall)

Noche Flamenca performs at Field Arts & Events Hall

Ensemble rehearsing for a West Coast premiere

By Diane Urbani de la Paz

For Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — This art form shares traits with rock’n’roll and hip-hop, Martín Santangelo told his audience last Saturday.

People — gypsies, Arabs, Sephardic Jews — endured persecution from mainstream Spain, he said, so they screamed out with their voices, their guitars and their bodies. In this way, their music has origins similar to that of the rock and rap we hear today.

“You scream out, because you’re fed up,” said Santangelo, artistic director and producer of the renowned troupe known as Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca.

“This is flamenco,” Santangelo said after the ensemble, along with his wife, dancer Soledad Barrio, had given a short demonstration on the plain black stage of Field Arts & Events Hall.

The ensemble, 12 artists, came to Port Angeles on Oct. 30 for a two-week residency to rehearse for the West Coast premiere of a new show, “Searching for Goya,” at the Meany Center in Seattle next Thursday through Nov. 18.

Their local presence will culminate in a pair of performances.

At Field Hall, a place Santangelo called “delicious” for its acoustics, Noche Flamenca will appear at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Their new piece, which began taking shape in early 2022, is a set of vignettes, each drawing inspiration from the paintings of Francisco de Goya. The troupe performed a short example from the work in which bulls, painted by Goya, float from the sky.

Tickets to Noche Flamenca’s concerts, ranging from $10 to $75, are available at fieldhallevents.org. The concerts will be in the 500-seat Donna M. Morris Theater at Field Hall, 201 W. Front St.

Gabriela Garcia, Noche Flamenca’s production manager, said ensemble members feel fortunate to have this time in Port Angeles.

The calm, quiet and physical beauty of this place has allowed the artists to focus solely on the work without distraction, Garcia said.

“The beauty of nature has allowed them to reflect like never before on the work they are taking on. To be in a place like Port Angeles with access to the beautiful Field Hall,” she added, “lends itself to creativity and introspection.”

Barrio, the principal dancer, is a petite woman with a fierce bearing. Among other honors, she has won the Vilcek Prize in Dance from the Vilcek Foundation, which raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States.

“When I dance, I am my true self,” Barrio has said.

She was born in Madrid; Santangelo is a New Yorker from Greenwich Village. The pair, then in their late 20s, met in the Spanish capital in 1992 and moved to New York City to found Noche Flamenca a year later. They have since led the troupe to worldwide prominence, touring and teaching audiences about their art.

From the 15th century forward, the people who created flamenco were oppressed: not permitted to speak their native language, celebrate their culture or be who they are, Santangelo said.

And so, in caves and cellars, they made music.

“It starts with the voice,” Santangelo said, because the people didn’t have much money for other instruments.

At Field Hall, the singers, musicians and dancers listen to one another, interlocked and improvising: “they’re communicating very quickly,” Santangelo said.

During a question-and-answer session last Saturday, Garcia interpreted for the Spanish-speaking performers.

To a query about how it feels to be out there dancing, one artist said simply: “free.” Another said sometimes he feels great, sometimes he doesn’t. Either way, flamenco is “a necessity.”

Flamenco, Santangelo added, is “a way of saying I’m here, this is who I am.”

For more information about the company, visit https://www.soledadbarrioandnocheflamenca.com.

For additional information abut Field Hall, see https://fieldhallevents.org/#/events.

________

Diane Urbani de la Paz is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend.

Pablo Fraile and Marina Elana will appear with Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca this weekend at Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles. (Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca)

Pablo Fraile and Marina Elana will appear with Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca this weekend at Field Arts & Events Hall in Port Angeles. (Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca)

More in Entertainment

Collage workshop set for Port Ludlow Art League meeting

Carol Nielsen and Pamela Raine will host a hands-on… Continue reading

Dance classes Saturday to honor longtime teacher

Drop-in dance classes, a flag retirement ceremony, concerts and stage performances highlight… Continue reading

The Wild Rose Chorale will present two concerts this weekend at Grace Lutheran Church. Singers are, from left, Pat Rodgers, Doug Rodgers, Chuck Helman, Al Thompson, Cherry Chenruk-Geelan, Mark Schecter, Sarah Gustner-Hewitt, Kris Lott, Leslie Lewis, Rolf Vegdahl, JES Schumacher, Lynn Nowak and Patricia Nerison. (Jo Tiffany)
Wild Rose Chorale to host weekend concerts

The Wild Rose Chorale will present “You’ll Be in… Continue reading

Tickets on sale for ‘Lion King Jr.’

Tickets for Ghostlight Productions’ “Lion King Jr.” are on sale.… Continue reading

Studium Generale to conclude with legacy of Paddle to Seattle

Peninsula College will finish this year’s Studium Generale schedule… Continue reading

Mary Marcial in the late 1990s.
Classes set to honor founder of Port Angeles Dance Center

Former dancers from the Port Angeles Dance Center will… Continue reading

Ken DeBuc, Toby Anderson and Anne Rutherford won the 2024 Liar’s Contest.
Liars Contest to be conducted at Field Hall on Thursday

The Story People of Clallam County will present its… Continue reading

“Adventuress Sunrise” by Mitchel Osborne is one of more than 50 artworks in Northwind Art’s online auction starting Monday. A pop-up gallery with all of the works on display is set for Tuesday and June 11 at the Cotton Building in Port Townsend. (Mitchel Osborne)
Art auction coming with Port Townsend pop-up gallery

Northwind Art will host its first Fundraising Art Auction… Continue reading

Northwind Art School teaching artist Meg Kaczyk, left, will host “Art Journaling through Change: In Community” on Sunday in Port Townsend. (Diane Urbani/Northwind Art)
Art Journaling class to be conducted Sunday

Port Townsend artist and teacher Meg Kaczyk will host… Continue reading

Stage productions, festival kick off weekend events

Monthly art walks, stage productions and a Maritime Festival highlight weekend events… Continue reading

Known for specializing in Japanese vinyl pressings, Vinny Robbins, Bremerton store owner of Beats N’ Cats Records, will return to the Sequim Record Show on Saturday as one of 25-plus vendors. He said Sequim seems to like heavy metal, hip-hop and jazz albums. (Vinny Robbins)
Sequim Record Show set for this weekend

Sale slated Saturday at Guy Cole Event Center

Rebekah Cadorette of Port Townsend will show her temari artwork at the Port Townsend Gallery during Saturday’s Art Walk and throughout June.
First Saturday Art Walk set for this weekend

The Alano Club, Gallery-9 and the Port Townsend Gallery… Continue reading