Spend an hour with Carolina Lugo and you will be transported to
another place.
Lugo's graceful hands rise in the air and slowly start to swirl.
Like a siren, her motions and soft voice pull you in as she talks
about Spain, Gypsies and the allure of flamenco and classical
Spanish dance.
The Pleasant Hill resident is the founder of Carolina Lugo's
Brisas de Espana Flamenco Dance Company, which bears the distinction
of being the only company in Contra Costa County to perform both
flamenco and classical Spanish dance.
Lugo, who choreographs and shares principal dance duties with her
daughter, is passionate about the dance form. Sit her down and she
will talk at length about its history and roots and how the rhythms
of her country and people inform her approach to life. A master of
the castanets, those palm-sized percussive instruments that in the
right hands can sound like the rattling of leaves or the beating of
a heart, Lugo has performed with symphonies and operas and most
recently choreographed the dance sequences in Golden Gate Opera's
production of "Carmen."
The fourth-generation dancer is intent on carrying the torch of
what she fears may be a dying art, especially when it comes to
lesser-known forms of Spanish dance. In addition to her duties as
dancer and choreographer, she also teaches, passing on a wealth of
knowledge that spans cultures and generations.
Q: Tell me a bit about your background. Where were you born?
A I'm first-generation
American. My parents and grandparents are from Galicia, which is the
north part of Spain. Galicia sits in the middle between the borders
of Portugal and the Basque region. My family name comes from the
Ciudad de Lugo -- that's where my ancestors are from.
Q: When did you begin to dance? What influenced you?
A It's just a part of who
I am. My mother, grandmother, and my great-grandmother were all
flamenco and Spanish dancers. They danced and taught, but they never
turned professional. In Spain, it's a way of life.
Q: When you learned to dance, did you learn directly from your
mother or did you take classes?
A: Initially it was directly from my mother, and then she put me
in formal training in Los Angeles. I trained with master teachers
like Jose Cansino. I took lessons from Luisa Triana -- she was my
mentor, I was her protege. She introduced me to the theater and the
stage for Spanish dance and flamenco. I began touring
internationally and nationally at a very young age.
Q: I think when most people think about Spanish dance, they tend
to think solely about flamenco. Tell me a little bit more about
other forms of Spanish dance.
A Spanish dance is the
mother of all dances from all regions of Spain. It encompasses
Spanish classical, the Spanish version of the classical ballet, but
also has elements of regional dances -- for example, the folk dances
that come from Aragorn and from Asturias. Other regional dances are
the Basque dances from the Basque country. So Spanish dance has the
movement of classical ballet, which is very regal, plus you have the
element of flamenco dance, which is more earthy. Flamenco dance,
which comes from the Gypsies, was not theatrical. It was danced in
the living rooms.
Q: What was it expressing? The reason I ask is because in
classical dance -- classical ballet -- the ballets themselves are
narrative. Are Spanish and flamenco dancers telling stories?
A The dancer is telling a
story and interpreting the song. Flamenco is highly synchronized
because you have the guitarist, then you have the singer, the
cantador, you have the dancer, and then you have the palmistas, the
people who play the palmas -- hand-clapping. All four elements have
to synchronize the rhythms. When the singer's singing to us, we're
interpreting the song through self-expression and the mood of the
singer. We can come in happy, but if the singer's going to be in a
melancholy mood, then that's the way he's going to be singing and
delivering the song to you. It changes all of our moods because
we're so in tune with one another.
We have the cantes chico, which are the lighter songs like
alegrias. Then we have the cantes jondo, which are very deep songs.
An example of a cante jondo would be soleares. Soleares means to be
alone, and usually the song is about lamenting a lost love, whether
if it's through death or separation, the loss of a parent or someone
really close to the singer.
Q: How important is the costume in flamenco dance?
A For a woman flamenco
dancer, one of the most important things is the expression on her
face. Next are the brazos (the arms), the hands (filigranos), the
fingers -- that's how the dancer expresses him- or herself, the
upper body movement, how she uses the falda (the skirt). And the
fan, which is a dying art form here in the Bay Area, the manton, the
Spanish shawl, the bata de cola, the long-tailed dress, which is a
dying art here as well, and the castanets.
Q: Where do you see the role of flamenco and Spanish dance, these
historical art forms, in today's world?
A: Flamenco and Spanish dance have become very international,
just like ballet. It used to be just a specialty. It's not just an
ethnic dance form, it's an art form. Right now I have a base of 12
little girls ranging in ages from 5 to 11 that I'm training and
developing to eventually becoming company apprentices. I'm really
interested in developing these children. I feel like the Hispanic
population is under-served and there's a lot of talent in our area.
I want to develop that talent and make this region known for Spanish
and flamenco dance. I'm going to do it one way or the other.
Carolina Lugo's Brisas de Espana Flamenco Dance Company perform 8
p.m. Nov. 5 at Cue Productions, 1835 Colfax St., Concord. For ticket
information, call 925-798-1300.
Reach Jennifer Modenessi at jmodenessi@cctimes.com or
925-977-8483.
