Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco Celebrating 54 year this year will present a traditional Flamenco performance of 3 world premier choreographies by Artistic director/Flamenco Dancer Carola Zertuche accompanied by Roberto Aguilar Flamenco guitarist and Marlon Aldana Percussionist. Carola will created 3 new pieces for SFIAF 2020.

Founded in 1966, Theatre Flamenco was conceived during a flowering of cultural pride that led to the revival of Latino arts. The Company’s purpose was to fill what was then a dearth of Spanish dances in the Bay Area. Theatre Flamenco was the first American dance company to stage full productions of Spanish dance in the U.S., and is one of the oldest dance companies in California. Its productions showcase premiere national and international talent, vivid dance imagery, and flamenco’s living lineage in order to enchant audiences and ignite a passionate response. Every year since its inception, Theatre Flamenco has presented a home season of performances in San Francisco. The dance company also has an annual touring schedule and presents a quarterly community outreach series in the Bay Area.The company has received two nominations for the prestigious Isadora Duncan Award (“Izzies”): in 2009 for Performance-Ensemble in the show Encuentro at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, and in 2011 for Music for the 45th Home Season production Una Nota Flamenca. Its target audiences are the following: the community in its new home in the Mission District of San Francisco (the company will revive its children’s flamenco classes in its new studio in 2017), the city of San Francisco, the greater Bay Area, and the entire state of California. Because of the diversity of venues and ticket prices of the shows it produces, the company reaches a large cross-section of the population of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco exists to support the cultural enrichment of the San Francisco Bay Area through the presentation and promotion of flamenco, an art form that sprang from an international and rich mix of cultural and ethnic influences that converged in southern Spain. The company is the second oldest dance company in San Francisco and one of the longest continually running flamenco performance groups outside of Spain. For 52 years Theatre Flamenco has been producing richly imaginative and thematic shows in collaboration with local and international artists, offering classes with world famous flamenco artists to students of all ages and abilities, and maintaining strong ties to flamenco artists around the world.

Roberto Aguilar (Composer/Flamenco guitar)
Roberto Aguilar studied classical guitar at City College of San Francisco. His interest in Flamenco began in 1996, studying with guitarists Jorge Liceaga and Manolo Fernandez. After a few years of playing for dancers he began taking dance lessons with Carola Zertuche. He has spent time in Madrid and Seville studying guitar with El Entri, Jesus Torres, Juan Antonio Suarez ‘Cano’ and dance with Maria Magdalena, Antonio Reyes, Manuel Betanzos, Alicia Marquez and Ramon Martinez. He began his professional career at ‘La Bodega’, one of the first flamenco venues in San Francisco where he was a featured artist for many years. In 1998, 1999 and 2000 he was invited to participate in the International Culture and Tourism Festival in Beijing, China. Roberto has performed with Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco for several seasons and was selected to take part in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in 1997, 2000, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015. He was invited in 2008 to perform with the Juan Siddi Flamenco Theater Company in the 7th Annual International Cultural Festival in Doha Qatar. He is a founding member of ‘The Flamenco Room’ at The Thirsty Bearand was musical director of La Tania production of ‘Despertar es un Color’ which premiered at the Cowell Theaterto a sold out audience, and ‘Esencia’, performed at the Houston Spanish and Flamenco festival. Roberto works regularly with the best flamenco talent in the San Francisco Bay Area such as La Tania, Carola Zertuche, Kerensa DeMars and Melissa Cruz. He is currently a member of La Tania Baile Flamenco.

David Mclean (Flamenco Guitarrist/ composer)
A guitarist and composer, David McLean is the principle guitarist for the Bay Area-based flamenco company, AguaClara Flamenco, and an active freelance performer and recording artist. He regularly works with such artists as Clara Rodriguez, Fanny Ara, La Tania, Yaelisa, Carola Zertuche, Melissa Cruz, Felix de Lola, José Cortes, Marlon Aldana and many others. Apart from flamenco, David has been the musical director and composer for contemporary stage-adaptations of Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” and Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” as well as for music for balkan, jazz, middle-eastern, and other flamenco-infused ensembles. In 2017 he was a member of a TBA award-winning ensemble for the critically acclaimed musical “Love Sick”, directed by Broadway director Christopher Renshaw. Just Jazz Guitar Magazine wrote of his music: “a unique sculpture of chord color, raw guts, and effusive linear tapestries.” David produces a consistently sold-out monthly flamenco cycle at The Sound Room in Oakland where he showcases many of the Bay-Area’s great flamenco artists. David also performs as a soloist for many private functions and events and offers lessons at his recording studio in Oakland.

Marlon Aldana (percussionist)
was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and combined his studies of architecture and music, eventually receiving his degree in architecture with a specialty in combining music and sculpture concepts. His musical interest developed quickly and he began his career as self- taught percussionist, later focusing on jazz, funk and Latin with a variety of teachers. His work as a session drummer with various pop and rock artists throughout Mexico lead him to relocate to the U.S., and since 2012 he has collaborated on many projects and genres including jazz, reggae, electronic, folk and others. Aldana was introduced into the flamenco world and master musician Jason McGuire “El Rubio,” who became his teacher and mentor. This relationship lead to his current work as part of Caminos Flamencos, an award-winning flamenco company that often combines flamenco, jazz and other experimental performances.