Award-Winning Guitarist And Dancer Visit Kansas University

Award-winning Spanish flamenco guitarist and dancer visit KU for residency - The Department of Music and Dance in KU's School of Fine Arts welcomes the award-winning Spanish flamenco guitarist José Luis Rodriguez and Cuban-American flamenco dancer Niurca Marquez to Lawrence for an intensive residency, February 10-18, 2007.

The artists will be conducting daily dance technique classes for students in the KU dance division, setting a new work for the University Dance Company and providing master classes for flamenco artists in the region. Rodrigues and Marquez will conduct lectures on the history of flamenco and its musical structures for students and the general public. The highlight of the residency will be a lecture demonstration that allows audiences to see live flamenco music and dance and engage the artists in discussion.

LECTURE Flamenco y Sus Raices/Roots of Flamenco

In this two-part session, Spanish flamenco guitarist José Luis Rodriguez and dancer Niurca Marquez will trace the history of flamenco's development from its roots in Southern Spain to the present. Originally practiced among Gypsies during the nineteenth century, flamenco contains cultural influences from the Gypsy migration through India, the Moorish occupation of Andalucia, the Spanish colonial presence in the Caribbean and folk forms from the Spanish South. This guitar-guided tour of the art form will feature live examples of different palos, or song forms, with an explanation of their distinctive rhythmic structures and melodic characteristics.

Monday and Wednesday, February 12 & 14, 2007 at Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall, 1530 Naismith Drive, at 2:00-2:50 pm. Free and open to the public.

LECTURE DEMONSTRATION Flamenco: Música y Baile/Flamenco Music and Dance

Spanish flamenco guitarist José Luis Rodriguez and dancer Niurca Marquez will engage audience members in a brief history of flamenco from its roots to its contemporary manifestations. The artists will perform individual palos, or song structures, on solo guitar (like the familiar alegrias and rondeña) and with dance (taranto and guajira, as well as the rare, exquisite tremolo). Each palo will be explained and artists will discuss important aspects of the piece being performed. Audience members will have an opportunity at the end of the event to ask questions and give comments.

NIURCA MARQUEZ

Niurca began her training in Classical Spanish Dance and Flamenco in Miami under Pepita Ibañez and Helena Alonso. In 1996, she moved to New Mexico where she continued her training and performed as a guest artist of Dance España and as an ensemble member of Alma Flamenca at the 1997 Festival Flamenco Internacional. She has been with Bailes Ferrer since 2000 and performed as company member and soloist for Duende Ballet Español under the direction of Rosa Mercedes. Niurca has studied with top artists from the United States and Spain and is the recipient of the 2003 Artist Access Grant and of the 2005 Artist Enhancement Grant. Niurca holds an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies with a concentration in Dance Ethnography. Her work focuses on the study of Flamenco movement and music as a form of expression and the relationship of the art to other musical forms particularly in the New World. She has been a guest lecturer at various institutions of higher learning and has conducted numerous teacher-training workshops and conferences.

JOSÉ LUIS RODRIGUEZ

José Luis Rodríguez was born in Ceuta, Spain, and began studying guitar in Huelva at the age of nine in the Peñas Flamencas of the City. From the age of 15, he studied as the favorite student of Maestro Mario Escudero. He has performed in Belgium, Holland, Italy, Morocco, England, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, the United States and other countries. In 1993 he became a member of the Ballet Cristina Hoyos for which he composed various musical scores including "Al Compás del Tiempo," "A Tiempo y A Compás," "Tierra Adentro," and the movie "Despacito y a Compás." In 2003, he became the composer and invited guest artist for the Ballet Andaluz with the production of "Yerma." His most recent composition for the Ballet, "Viaje al Sur" is currently on tour. Among his numerous awards, the most prestigious are: The 1984 Bienal de Sevilla, and in 1989 and 1990, he took first prize and gold medal at Hospitalet. In 1999, he participated in the series "Flamenco Viene del Sur" next to artists Hiniesta Cortés, Manuela Ríos, El Junco and Juan Ogalla. Currently, he is recording and performing as a soloist with his production "De Mis Manos" and collaborating with Belén Maya on "Dibujos," a production that premiered at the 2006 Festival de Jeréz. Since 2005, he has collaborated with the U.S. flamenco company Bailes Ferrer on two productions and as Flamenco Resident Musical Director and Artistic Advisor for the South Florida "Flamenco in the Sun" Festival. -- www2.ku.edu