President's Message
Welcome to our ninth anniversary celebration!
This year marks the ninth season of the Flamenco Arts Festival and it feels like it was just yesterday that we presented the then new and emerging flamenco group, Nuevo Ballet Español. That initial success was followed by flamenco giants Eva la Yerbabuena and Cristina Hoyos.
These past nine years have been exciting and challenging and every season has seen a Spanish or American company of flamenco dancers, singers, and musicians perform with innovative world-class skills that have brought audiences to their feet. The Festival has also created a professional flamenco performing company, Flamenco Ballet Pablo Pizano, which was invited to perform at the Gala Opening of the Granada Theatre in March of this year and which met with critical acclaim.
The Flamenco Arts Festival is held during the celebrations of the nationally observed Hispanic Heritage Month and its activities are designed to pay tribute to Hispanics who have made major contributions to the entertainment industry. The Festival remains unique in the calendar of local cultural events. It is a major live-theater event, conceived, organized and produced by Hispanics in Santa Barbara and fills a local entertainment niche long unattended to. The Festival has not only attracted the attention of all sectors of Santa Barbara, but has also won the recognition of entertainment circles across America and abroad.
Rafael Amargo, born in Granada, Spain, brings a fusion of basic traditional flamenco and modern dance to the stage of the historic Lobero Theatre. He is not only a dancer, but also a choreographer, artistic director, movie star, and appears regularly on magazine covers throughout Europe. His latest explosive production, Tiempo Muerto (Time Out), will thrill all who attend the 2008 Fall edition of the Flamenco Arts Festival.
None of this would have been possible without the support of the many individual, private and public sponsors, the Festival’s Board of Directors, and Santa Barbara’s cultural arts community. To all our sponsors and flamenco aficionados, we remain profoundly grateful.
Alberto Pizano
President