Our Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, Alice Blumenfeld, is a flamenco dancer who has brought the form to Oberlin by way of several courses, special events and happenings over the course of the last two years. (Her appointment concludes after this semester). She has brought guest performers and has arranged a variety of collaborations with others on campus. Naturally, we in the guitar area were thrilled with her efforts here and have been attending as many of these events as possible.

This week, she arranged a performance on campus with some guests. She brought in fellow dancer Wendy Clinard, of Chicago and Milwawkee-based guitarist Marija Temo. In addition, a second guitarist participated, Bruce Catalano (of Cleveland). The performance took place in Johnson House, a unique Victorian-era residence hall dedicated to housing Jewish students (it is also called Hebrew Heritage House). The program featured music at the intersection of Jewish cultural heritage and flamenco in Spain. Alice gave a short talk about the history and background of the place and peoples, including discussion of the Sefardic Jews, the rise of Catholic Spain, the Inquisition and some of the efforts people had to make to hide their Jewish heritage after they’d been “converted.” As the event took place in Johnson House’s living room, it was a close space, with most of the audience seated on the floor literally at the dancer’s feet. It felt like an authentic home-spun flamenco experience: electrifying and vivid.

The dancers performed both together and separately, and we were treated to plenty of terrific guitar playing. Unlike many flamenco guitarists, Marija Temo studied classical guitar when she was younger, first with Loris Chobanian at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory in Berea, Ohio (she grew up in Akron, Ohio), then with Manuel Barrueco at Peabody. Her playing incorporates elements of classical technique and sensibility from time to time, in a musically interesting and satisfying way. At one point, she morphed her falsetas into Albeniz’ Asturias, causing smiles on the faces of the classical guitarists in the room. In addition to her playing, Temo proved herself a tremendously compelling flamenco singer, demonstrating the raw, emotional sound we associate with this unique tradition, and doing so while playing. Her second guitarist, Catalano, filled in the gaps and helped create the full-bodied aural cushion the dancers needed to propel them through their virtuosic moves.

(Some of my readers may recall seeing Alice Blumenfeld’s name previously. Last year, she collaborated with one of my students by performing a choreographed dance to his interpretation of Rodrigo’s Invocacion y Danza: Mohit Dubey. Mohit had been accompanying her flamenco dance class. See the post here.)

Here are some photos from Sunday’s performance:

Alice Blumenfeld dances with Wendy Clinard. (Photo by Annie Zheng)

Wendy Clinard dances while Marija Temo plays and sings and Bruce Catalano accompanies.

Alice Blumenfeld dances. (Photo by Annie Zheng)

The troupe: Oberlin faculty Alice Blumenfeld with Wendy Clinard, Marija Temo and Bruce Catalano.

As Marija Temo grew up in Akron where I was guitar professor at the local university (The University of Akron), we had occasion to meet when she was in high school. She took a few lessons with me at that time and demonstrated extraordinary talent and musicianship. I was delighted to learn, later, that she’d gone on not only through her MM with Manuel, but into flamenco music with such success. It was wonderful to see her again. (Check her out here.)

Alice Blumenfeld departs Oberlin after this semester but lands in Cleveland, where her established flamenco troupe, Abrepaso Flamenco, will continue to perform and play an active role in the arts community there and on the road. (Check her out in detail here.) Here is a poster from the troupe’s recent outing in Cleveland:

Feb 28 Flamenco at Oberlin!

Mar 5 Raphaella Smits at Oberlin

Feb 22 James Marron Master Class

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