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Collaborating Guest Artists
NINO DE LOS REYES
The prime dancer/bailaor is the first bailaor to be recognized with a Grammy award for best Latin jazz album “Antidote,” collaborating on the album alongside music legend Chick Corea.
Nino began his career at the age of nine, performing on the show Campanas Flamencas, directed by Paco Sanchez, founder of the renowned company Cumbre Flamenca, where he shared the stage with: Joaquin Grilo, Milagros Mengibar, La Tati, Antonio Reyes, and his brother Isaac de los Reyes. At the same age, he joined more outstanding dance companies like Eduardo Serrano “El Guito,” Carmen Cortes, and Javier Baron, among others.
He has been a crew member and performer alongside Enrique Morente, Pepe Habichuela, Josemi Carmona, Juan José Suárez “Paquete”, José María Bandera, Niño Josele, Jesús de Rosario, Juan Carmona, Ramón el Portugués, Miguel el Rubio, Montse Cortes, José Soto “Sorderita”, Rafael de Utrera, Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent, Alain Pérez, Rubén Dantas, Israel Suárez “Piraña”, Sergio Martínez among others.
In 2010, Nino won three awards in the Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco de Madrid competition for his spectacle Origen. First place in the solo choreography category; Joven Promesa del Flamenco Award; and Best Musical Composition composed by Paco Cruz.
Recently he was invited to join “Beyond the Memory” show, a tribute to Paco de Lucia, where he had the opportunity to share the stage with the renowned members. Additionally, he was a guest in the Mediaset Show, “Flamencos en el Berlin”, where he collaborated with the greatest representatives of flamenco dance to date: Antonio Canales, Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya “Farruquito”, Antonio Fernández Montoya “Farru”, José Maya, Paloma Fantova and Belen Lopez.
Due to Nino’s versatility in dancing and musical knowledge, he has collaborated on various recordings related to pop and jazz genres. One such example is the “Stranger to Stranger” album by world-renowned singer Paul Simon, with whom Nino performed at the Barclays Center in Madrid in front of 20,000 people. Additionally, the legendary jazz figure, Chick Corea, invited him to participate in his 75th birthday presentation at the Blue Note jazz club and to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York city. Nino also collaborated on Chick Coreas album “Antidote,” released in 2019 featuring The Spanish Heart Band and the participation of Ruben Blades. Nino has performed with The Spanish Heart Band in world renowned music festivals such as Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, and Love Supreme.
Nino has created four unique dance productions: ORIGEN, INSIDE, TIERRA, and his latest creation UNO MÁS DE LA BANDA.
CHICAGO FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2021 - Nino de los Reyes & Amparo Heredia, Instituto Cervantes Chicago, 12 November to 13 November
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Treats aplenty in Ensemble Espanol's 'Zafiro Flamenco' at North Shore Center | See Chicago Dance
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Nino de los Reyes | Artist | GRAMMY.com
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Photo, Casey Mitchell
ANTONIO ROSARIO
Antonio Rosario was born in the Dominican Republic. At 15, he began his dance training at Ballet Hispanico in New York City. In 2010, Antonio received a full scholarship to study at Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet (GKA) under the direction of Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov. While at GKA he danced Pas de Trio from Swan Lake, Peasant Variation from Giselle, Seguidilla from Don Quixote, and more. In 2013, he graduated from the Academy and became a founding member of the Gelsey Kirkland Ballet, where his repertoire included Pas d’Esclave from Le Corsaire, Four Boys Dance from Raymonda, Pierrot in Harlequinade, excerpts from Sleeping Beauty, Prince and Spanish Lead from the Nutcracker, as well as works by Danish choreographer, August Bournonville such as La Ventana, and Ballebille from Napoli. In 2014, Antonio won 2nd place in the Flamenco Certamen USA held at Lincoln Center, NYC.
In 2015, Antonio danced with Ballet Fantastique as a lead dancer in all original work by choreographer Donna Marisa Bontrager. He also performed with Eugene Symphony at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.
From 2016 to 2019, Antonio joined Ballet 5:8 in Chicago as the lead dancer. He danced original works such as Four Seasons of the Soul, Compass, The Space in Between, 4501, Shades of Refrain, and Scarlet, based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthrone, The Scarlet Letter.
Antonio currently lives in Chicago as a freelance ballet and flamenco dancer. Repertoire includes Cavalier in the Nutcracker, Snow King in the Nutcracker, Lysander in Midsummer Nights Dream, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, and original work by Ricardo Moyano.
WENDY CLINARD
After completing a BFA at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1993, Wendy Clinard embarked on a rigorous apprenticeship with flamenco dancer Edo Sie while augmenting her studies in Spain with notable teachers Juana Amaya and Hiniesta Cortez. She has been performing and teaching the art of Flamenco for the past 20 years.
In 1999 Wendy began choreographing original dance theater productions. Since then, she has created six complete evening works (Quest of Theseus; Shifting Landscapes; Unraveling Rhythms; Jondo Portraits; From the Arctic to the Middle East—Broken Narratives by an American Flamenco Dancer; and the recent 2014 work Chicago's Watershed) and several smaller choreographic pieces. Unraveling Rhythms toured India in 2005 and the Midwest in 2006/2007; excerpts of Jondo Portraits were shared with audiences in Syria in 2009. In 2015 Clinard Dance was awarded a MacArthur International Connection Fund to support a choreographic exchange between Hrishikesh Pawar, Pune (India), and Clinard. In April 2016, Clinard Dance performed Chicago's Watershed at The University of Peking in conjunction with The University Of Chicago's Beijing Branch.
Wendy was an invited choreographer at the summer 2000 Jacob's Pillow Festival and The Birmingham Royal Ballet (Birmingham England) in fall 2001. The company has participated in guest residencies at the University of Chicago (2014), Hambidge Center in Rapbun, Georgia (summer 2002), Tofte Lake Center 2013-2015, and at The Chicago Cultural Center's Dance Bridge Program (2006 and 2010).
In 2019, Clinard Dance was awarded her second MacArthur International Connections Fund. The grant supported a cultural exchange between Chicago, Madrid and Valencia. Through this project, Clinard Dance produced original song compositions and choreography. The songs were inspired by interviews conducted with elders community members in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago and youth and elders in Spain. For more information, go to Flamenco de Barrio en Barrio.
Clinard has taught for the past 20 years in schools and higher education environments. Locally she has taught for Chicago's Gallery37, De Paul University, Columbia College Chicago, College of Lake County, Salt Creek Ballet, Homer Bryant Ballet, Dimitri Roudnev Ballet, and Redmoon Theatre. She has presented short and long-term residencies since 1999 for arts organizations, primary / secondary schools, and universities.
Lakshmi Basile : Wendy reached out to flamenco artist La Chimi for choreographic consultation throughout this project. To learn more about La Chimi and her please visit her here.
