Spanish flamenco master comes to Manila

MANUEL Betanzos, flamenco master. LUCA FIACCAVENTO

Spanish flamenco maestro Manuel Betanzos will hold classes in Manila on May 7-8.

 

He is the director of Academia de Manuel Betanzos of Barrio de Triana, Sevilla, famed for its flamenco culture and legends.

 

Flamenco has been included by the Unesco in its World Heritage List as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”

 

Betanzos had danced with the late great Mario Maya in Compañia Mario Maya, as well as with Andres Peña, Pili Ogalla, Rafael and Adela Campallo, who now teach with him in his school.

 

As a testimony to his teaching, Betanzos is invited yearly to teach at the prestigious Festival de Jerez, featuring Spain’s most recognized and acclaimed maestros.

 

In the Philippines, Rose Borromeo has promoted flamenco since the 1970s. She received the Orden del Mérito Civil (Order of Civil Merit) instituted by the king of Spain on April 18 from the Spanish embassy, in Singapore.

 

She will welcome Betanzos to the Filipino dance community, with the Julie Borromeo Performing Arts Foundation and Rose Borromeo Spanish Dance Company.

 

Schedule of the Manuel Betanzos Flamenco master workshops: May 7, 7:30-9 p.m., and  May 8, 8-9:30 p.m. Venue is at Julie Borromeo Performing Arts Foundation, 500 Shaw Zentrum Mall, 500 Shaw Blvd. (across Goldilocks), 3/F (Kids Klub), Mandaluyong City.

 

Two-day workshop package fee is P3,000. To register, or for further information, contact Tania Goh: e-mail tania@saltshaker.com.sg; visit www.saltshaker.com.sg; or call Julie Borromeo Performing Arts Foundation, look for Cristina, tel. 7750827, or Rose at 0917-2795143.

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