FANNY ARA

FANNY ARA + July 2004

Fanny Ara began her dance studies at age three, studying ballet and Contemporary dance at the Irene Popard school located in St. Jean de Luz in the French Basque country. In 1991 she began training in Spanish classical dance and for the next ten years she traveled regularly to Madrid to study with maestros Isabel Quintero and Antonio Najarro. In addition to her studies in dance, she studied piano at the Bayonne School of Art for 11 years. She attained a BA in literature with a specialty in music.

After graduating from the Bayonne School of Art, she relocated to Sevilla. Over the next two years there, she pursued intensive flamenco studies with Juana Amaya, El Torombo, Manolo Soler, Hiniesta Cortes and others both privately and at the Christina Herreen foundation While in Spain, she was also accepted into the prestigious academy of Mario Maya, which she briefly attended before making her way to San Francisco.

Fanny has become an established and important performer in the Bay Area. As a company member of the Oakland-based Caminos Flamencos, she has shared the theater stage with artists such as Antonio de la Malena, Manuel de la Malena, Juan Ogalla, and

Domingo Ortega. She regularly performs with Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos at San Francisco s ODC Theater and Cafe de la Paz in Berkeley. Her schedule also includes frequent tablao appearances with the established bay area company, Arte y Compas.

Fanny is currently working as choreographer/dancer for the developing project Flametal, which fuses flamenco music and heavy metal.

An Interview with Fanny Ara and Jason Engelund

JASON "EL PINTOR" ENGELUND: You first trained in classical ballet, non? What brought you into flamenco?

FANNY ARA: My first experience in dance was modern, and then at 8, I began Spanish classical dance and I ended up doing that for ten years. I tried ballet but, for me it wasn't so powerful. I always loved spanish classical dance because of the music.......Manuel de Falla,Turina, Albeniz and others geniuses. And it is so theatrical! So enjoyable! So much grace and power at the same time. And when I graduated from the school of art, I decided to go to Spain in order to train with the best people. I wanted first to go to Madrid to study more spanish classical dance, but at the end I chose Sevilla, to explore something that i didn't really know....flamenco. I wanted to try something new, and one of the reasons I tried flamenco was because you don't need the whole orchestra behind you. It's a more intimate way to share your art. So I lived there for almost two years, the best experience in my life so far, and I ended up studing flamenco " full time". Then I moved and danced in San Francisco, but I still have in my heart the love for spanish classical music/dance. And dancing, I like to mix them both. Can't help it!

JASON: Tell us about your entrance into our San Francisco Bay Area Flamenco scene?

FANNY: Well, first of all, I came to San Francisco because my husband, Patrick, was living here. We met in Sevilla and I left Spain to be with him. But before I made the jump to come to the US, Patrick checked out the flamenco scene and told me it looked very promising in the Bay Area. After I got here we went to several shows, I met Yaelisa, then it all started happening surprisingly quick. I took classes with her, and she brought me into Caminos Flamenco (her dance company) where I had the opportunity a few months later to perform at the Yerba Buena dance theater. She s been very generous in helping me along here. And as far as the level of flamenco here... AMAZING! It really shocked me coming from Spain how good it could be here in the Bay Area, and it feels good to be part of it.

JASON: Est que tu faites flamenco en France? Dites-nous au sujet de la scène de flamenco en France... en anglais si tu plait. Ou en français, lo que sea.

FANNY: From my experience in France, I didn't really do flamenco. I did a sort of flamenco. My teacher is impassioned about spanish classical and when she taught me flamenco, at the end it looked a little too graceful. Flamenco in France is huge, we have several festivals all around the country. But people are still pretty ignorant about it. But I have to say, in France, artists are very respected. People always pay attention to us.

JASON: Pick one: Le vin, fino porto de Jerez or Bud Light?

FANNY: how can you ask that to a french/basque girl???? J: Sorry... ; ) Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones?

F: i can't resist at mick jagger 's voice.

J: Alegrias or Siguriyas?

F: siguiriyas. no hesitation.

J: Serge Gainsborg or Leonard Cohen?

F: gainsbourg....such a poet....such a hilarious guy. love him!

JASON: Bud light and Zeppelin, wine at my "beggars' banquet", some fino porto y alegrias. We know it's all good. Ya gainsbourg is pretty funny, Ever hear Luna's remake of Bonnie and Clyde? It's fantastic. Anyway.... thanks for playing.

JASON: You picked out this month's letra. Why that one?

FANNY: Pareja Obregon in an amazing pianist and writer, and I always loved Sevillanas. And me, as a pianist, he makes me feel so much emotion.... why this letra particularly? because it reminds me of my father.

JASON: What do you look for in accompaniment from both a guitarist and singers?

FANNY: INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!!!and great communication.i just want we understand each other, listen and pay attention to each other,,,,,and have a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!!

JASON: What do you think duende is?

FANNY: the most difficult question ever. i think everybody has his own view of the duende. but finally everybody will end saying..."there is not definition!!!!!"

JASON: I've heard some dancers say that while performing they are 'possessed by panthers', or 'pull and moving energy, like tai chi, moving energy like salt water taffy, stretching, snapping and releasing it.' Some experience it simply as a pure form of expression. What do you experience when you dance flamenco?

FANNY: EMOTIONS. I love to be on stage, I love to communicate with the audience and the musicians. For me, it is the only way to express myself 100%. It is a really bizarre sensation, and if I would not dance anymore, I know I would be dead inside. It is a drug, and what I experience when I dance is mine. It is something ephemera but so powerful. When I dance, I feel like my life makes sense. And I don't think while dancing I am possessed but on the contrary, I am myself, without prohibition, without fear.

JASON: Tell us about your approach to choreography with Melissa in Ben Wood's Flametal. And what exactly is Flametal?

FANNY: Flametal is a fusion between flamenco and heavy metal music. Ben Woods created the idea, and I have to say he did an amazing job. He is a very talented and creative person. It is a very exciting challenge because it mixes the sensual traditions of flamenco with the provocative aggressiveness of heavy metal.It is all about the attitude. It gives us another dimension to explore our creativity. Working with Melissa is a good experience for me. We are very different. We studied with different people, we don't have the same style. But it's been great because we give and receive our own approach to dance. Ben picked two dancers with diverse personalities, but he knew it would work. She is very strong and talented with modern flamenco. I am more graceful and theatrical. But it is so complementary. In fact, in the Flametal's piece, she represents more the Evil part with her strong baile and I am the naive and innocent girl. We are definitely the Yin and the Yang but we are open enough to be able to share our creativity and personality. It is a real pleasure to work with her.

JASON: As artists, we are in the dialogue of reflecting and creating the world around us. You're seeing many dimensions of the world. Flamenco puro, classical and fusion. France, Spain, the U.S.A. What are you creating?

FANNY: I think I am just doing a mix. All types of dance that I've tried fascinate me. Same about the places I've lived or travelled to. It is a non-stop fascination and I need that to create. Traveling is an amazing inspiration. I know I am not able to do only one thing in my life. So I keep trying different things. I am very passioned, I love art. I consider myself blessed to have passions. But in my creativity three focus always come to my mind: the gestural, theater, music. I can't create without them and they can't be separated. It is a philosophy, it is my creativity.