Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren O’Donnell.
Lauren, founder of Flamenco Boston, began studying flamenco dance with Omayra Amaya in 2002. She founded Flamenco Boston in 2007 with the mission of bringing more flamenco dance performances, workshops, and classes to the Boston area. In 2008 Lauren lived in Sevilla, Spain for a year of intensive flamenco dance training, where she studied with multiple teachers including Alicia Marquez and Isabel Bayon. Upon her return from Spain, Lauren began performing frequently with Flamenco Boston and teaching flamenco dance on the faculty of Boston Percussive Dance and Green Street Studios.
The Flamenco Boston Company now performs regularly in the greater Boston area. A performance highlight included a ten-year run of the show Tapas and Flamenco every Sunday night at Bar Lola, a restaurant that was located near Copley Square. Over the past ten years, the Flamenco Boston Company has grown as new artists have joined. The group now includes dancers Lauren O’Donnell, Anastasia Yendiki, Yosi Karahasi, Ryo Okada, percussionist Nate Tucker, guitarist Antonio “Tiriti” Tran, and singer Ana Maria Villa. The Flamenco Boston group is available for live flamenco performances, educational flamenco shows, and flamenco dance lessons at restaurants, theaters, private parties, corporate events, schools, etc.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Flamenco Boston’s early performances, including appearances on local TV shows Debuts and Steve Katsos, lacked a flamenco singer. Flamenco singing, called cante in Spanish, is a crucial part of live flamenco performances, but there are few flamenco singers in the United States. Flamenco Boston is lucky to now include a recent Berklee School of Music graduate, Ana Maria Villa, as their singer.
Please tell us a little more about Flamenco Boston.
Flamenco Boston is known for their heartfelt, passionate performances and their challenging yet encouraging flamenco dance classes. The Flamenco Boston group provides live flamenco performances, educational flamenco shows, and flamenco dance lessons at venues including restaurants, theaters, dance studios, private parties, corporate events, schools, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.flamencoboston.com/
- Email: info@flamencoboston.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flamencoboston/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlamencoBoston/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/flamencoboston
