Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater in “Pasos Largos” by La Lupi/Photo: Dean Paul
Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater celebrates forty-seven years this season and, as one would expect, plans are in full swing “for the big five-oh,” says Jorge Perez, the company’s executive director. Ensemble Español, dedicated to the preservation of flamenco and folkloric Spanish dance, weathered the pandemic and has momentum as it heads toward its half-centennial thanks in no small part to an ongoing residency at Northeastern Illinois University. “Just housing the costumes alone,” Perez says—of which the company has over 2,000—“that in-kind support is invaluable.” With the security of a long-term home, Ensemble Español has built relationships with artists at home and abroad and seeding ground for residencies and exchanges with schools in Spain.
Ensemble Español’s annual “Flamenco Passion” concert, June 16-18 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, will give a taste of the international high-profile partnerships the organization has cultivated over its long tenure. Guest performer Irene “La Chiqui de Málaga” Lozano from Malaga will perform the piece that won her best female performer at the Festival Internacional de Minas—one of the most prestigious flamenco awards in the world. And Isaac Tovar, former principal dancer with the National Ballet of Spain, has choreographed a full company piece to close out the show. The program also features local artists, including a piece by Chicago-based choreographer Wendy Clinard.
Although it’s in the title, the program is not all flamenco. The first half of the show features Spanish folkloric dances from the provinces of Galicia, Extremadura and Valencia, as well as neoclassical styles that blend classical and flamenco dance. As dance preservationists, Ensemble Español has amassed a repertoire of more than 135 ballets and, as a longstanding institution, it has cultivated dancers from childhood to maturity. Perez is thrilled that the company’s new board chair suggested honoring the legacy of the dancers as part of the fiftieth-anniversary season. “A lot of the dancers you’ll see onstage have been with us ten, fifteen, twenty-plus years. Some started taking classes at the age of four years old,” he says. Many of these dancers will have the opportunity to perform abroad next year, when the company accepts an invitation to the legendary Flamenco Biennial in Seville.
“Flamenco Passion” at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, (847)673-6300. June 16-18, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 3pm. $25-$55. Tickets at northshorecenter.org.
