Music & Dance
SIEMPRE FLAMENCO with Paco and Ceila
Miami, Florida
Flamenco
Guitarist/singer Paco Fonta was born in a small town near Jaen in what is considered the home of Flamenco—the Andalusia region of southern Spain—where he learned the songs of flamenco at a young age from listening to his grandmother sing them. He began his professional career performing in tablaos and festivals around Spain, accompanying singers and dancers such as La Niña de la Huerta and Antonio Molina. He later toured Europe with the Kurt Savoy Trio, and in 1985, he won first prize in cante jondo (deep song) at the flamenco festival in Jaen.
Dancer Celia Fonta is a native of Chicago, where she first studied flamenco guitar before beginning her career in dance. She began her studies of flamenco, Spanish classical and folkloric dance in Madrid with teachers Ciro, La Tati, Paco Romero and Azorin, before focusing her studies on the art of pure flamenco with other great masters such as Merche Esmeralda, el Guito, and, most recently, Antonio Canales and Carmela Greco.
Celia and Paco met in Barcelona’s old Gothic Quarter in the 1980s. They married and together toured the United States with the Flamenco Theatre of Madrid. Celia later toured Europe with Ballet Español Edo Sie and Azucena Vega and the Swiss National Circus. In 1986, Paco and Celia made their home in Miama, Florida, where they opened Cacharrito’s Place Tablao; they have since worked at all the tablaos in Miami. They have also performed with several flamenco dance companies in the U.S. and abroad, most notably with Ballet Flamenco la Rosa (Miami), Bailes Ferrer (Ft.Lauderdale), Ensemble Español (Chicago), and Carmen Garza Flamenco Ballet (Venezuela). Paco played guitar on Gloria Estefan’s 1989 hit record, "Cuts Both Ways", and has recorded with many other Latin artists.
Paco and Celia were both named as Master Artists by the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program in 1998. Celia received an Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the State of Florida in 2001.
Links
http://www.siempreflamenco.com
http://elenagarciadance.blogspot.com/2009/01/group-projects.html
http://reocities.com/Paris/2415/
Return to Music and Dance page
Go to Next Artist- Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole
