Currently working on a short film about an innocent incarcerated, leaving his wife and young child to fend for themselves. Based on a gypsy folk tale, the woman wins his freedom through a battle of wits. Commissioned by Hudson Valley Flamenco Valley.
Photo by Darryl Padilla, dancers: Juan Paredes & Olyda Espinal”La Cubana”
Mary Mattingly who created Swale has a manifesto urging us to “reset the dial by working together on utopian projects. Be a transgressor and an empathic lover. Remember that we have bigger battles to fight than those we may want to fight against each other.”
Ten years ago, Lucija Stojevic produced with Deirdre Towers an award-winning documentary about La Chana, a gypsy dancer, a survivor of domestic violence with no formal education, who continued to experience moments of duende while confined to her house. As the film was being made, La Chana made a come-back. Now in her early seventies, she was invited to perform at City Center in the Flamenco Festival 2020. She is the inspiration for this project.
LA CHANA, evokes the mysteries of rhythm, will, and suspense. La Chana dances a duet; she partners her soul, her inner light. She dances with total confidence in her instincts.
With her in mind, this project is activism on the most basic level – aiming to empower everyone, no matter what their age, race, education. We hope to create a wave that makes everyone hum
This Little Light of Mine I’m Gonna Let it Shine …
“We are aeolian harps endowed with the power to expose ourselves to the wind of the Spirit.”
Aldous Huxley’s The Perennial Philosophy