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Flamenco dancer and singer Katerina Tomás lights up the stage with her fiery presence and brilliant footwork.
She is the recipient of numerous honors, including four awards from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and a recent L.A. Treasures Award. Katerina has performed flamenco throughout the U.S., Canada, and in Spain.Katerina studied flamenco with giants in the field, including Gypsy dancer Rosa Montoya, Roberto Amaral, Inmaculada Aguilar, Alejandro Granados, and with the legendary nuevo flamenco artists Antonio Canales, Joaquin Grilo, and Eva "La Yerbabuena." She has studied flamenco singing, "cante," with Aroa Soto Cala of El Puerto de Santa Maria. |
Flamenco dancer Katerina Tomás has over 30 years of training as a dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer, and is a recognized scholar of Spanish Studies in the United States and in Spain. She has studied and performed flamenco with legendary artists in the field, including Spanish Gypsy dancer Rosa Montoya, and with contemporary flamenco artists Roberto Amaral, Linda Vega, Juan Parra, Inmaculada Aguilar, Antonio Canales, Eva “La Yerbabuena,” and Joaquin Grilo.
Katerina formed the cuadro flamenco dance company L.A. Olé in 1993, and the group performed throughout the southern California region and the western United States until 1997. Later that year, she collaborated with Stephen to form the contemporary flamenco music and dance company, Mojácar Flamenco, which has since performed in the greater Los Angeles area and on tour throughout the United States and Canada, including a tour of the U.S. in 2002 with the popular rock group, Concrete Blonde.
Katerina performed at El Pueblo de Los Angeles (the famous birthplace of Los Angeles, “Olvera Street”) for Prince Philip of Spain at an event honoring the founding of the City of Los Angeles in 1995. She choreographed and directed the Olvera Street festival “Spanish Times” in 1998, which included flamenco, Spanish classical, and Spanish folkloric dance and music, Spanish foods, and the famous Andalusian horses of Medieval Times.
In 1996 she performed at the Paul Beckett Gallery in Mojácar, Spain, and in 2001, she performed with Stephen Dick at the Sur Jerez competition in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
In 2003 she choreographed “Fiesta Flamenca,” a cuadro flamenco performance piece for the internationally recognized, world-renowned BYU Folk Dance Team.
Her research on Federico García Lorca and her training as a professional flamenco dancer and choreographer led to the flamenco concert “Cantan los Fuegos – the fires sing; an evening of music and dance celebrating the art of Federico García Lorca and Manuel de Falla,” held at the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park on December 4 and 5, 2004, the centerpiece of the concert a flamenco dance theater realization of Lorca’s Gypsy ballad (epic poem) Romance Sonambulo. Also featured on the concert were flamenco dances created to some of the most famous Spanish songs in history, collected and re-harmonized by Lorca in 1931: Zorongo Gitano, Anda Jaleo, La Tarara, and Romance de Don Boiso. In 2006 she choreographed and performed in the award winning concert, "Mojácar at the Madrid," a concert featuring traditional and nuevo flamenco works, and a new flamenco and Latin ballet based on Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo, Cantan los Fuegos.
Flamenco/Nuevo Dances:
- Alegrías “Ojala” – solo & trio for 3 women
- Bulerías “de Jerez” – group of short solos
- “Cuadro Flamenco” – group piece for 12 dancers
Fandangos de Huelva “Esperanza” – trio for three women - El Garrotin - solo
- La Caña - solo
- La Guajíras “Primavera” – solo & trio for 3 women
- La Tarara - solo
- Soleares/Soléa por bulerías - 2 solos
- Tangos – group of short solos
- Tangos de Málaga - solo
- Tarantos - solo
- Tientos - solo
- Zorongo Gitano – solo
Classical Spanish Dance
- Romance de Don Boiso – solo accompanied by piano and soprano
- Flamenco/Modern Dance
- Romance Sonambulo – solos and quintet, accompanied by classical guitar and baritone
- Flamenco/Indian Dance
- Mallari – accompanied by Indian musicians
- Flamenco/Latin Dance/Ballet & modern dance
- Cantan los Fuegos – solos, ballet trio and group pieces, accompanied by guitar, bass and drums
Modern Dances
- Alexandria – solo – in the style of Isadora Duncan
- Exquisite Spy - duet
- Canción Añejas –trio
- Century of Clouds - quintet
- Exquisite Spy - duet
- Frida - solo
- Peace3 – trio
- Ponciana – duet
- R Vingt Six – duet
- Strong and Sweet – trio – in the style of Isadora Duncan
University and College courses
- 1992-2007 - LACC Community Services: flamenco, regional Spanish dance
- 1998-2007 - UC Irvine Department of Dance: flamenco and Spanish dance
- 2003 - Brigham Young University: flamenco
- 2002 - Woodbury University: multicultural dance
- 2001 - Orange Coast College: flamenco, classical Spanish dance, dance production, repertory, and performance ensemble
- 1995-1996 - Cypress College: flamenco, dance repertory, performance ensemble.
- 1993 - UCLA Department of Dance: flamenco, regional Spanish dance, class performance ensemble
- 1991-1992 - UCLA Department of Dance: World Dance
Professional studios, schools and dance programs
- 2003-2007 - Pointe by Pointe Dance Studio: flamenco and regional Spanish dance
- 2001-2007 - Mojácar Music and Dance Studios: flamenco and cante flamenco
- 2002-2003 - Payke Studios: flamenco and cante flamenco
- 2000-2003 - Flamenco studio of Solange Gomes, Salt Lake City, Utah: workshops in flamenco choreography
- 2001-2002 - International Academy of Dance/El Rincon Flamenco Studio: flamenco, castanets, and regional Spanish dance
- 1993-2000 Artist’s Workspace, Los Angeles: flamenco, castanets, classical, and regional Spanish dance
- 1999 - Pasadena Civic Ballet: classical Spanish dance
- 1998-1999 - 32nd Street Elementary USC Arts Magnet School, Los Angeles: flamenco dance and singing club
- 1994-1997 - Beverly Hills Parks and Recreation: flamenco
- 1995-1996 - The Linda Vega Dance Studio: flamenco
- 1994-1995 - Will Rogers Elementary School: flamenco and baile folklorico de México
- 1989-1990 - Rosa Montoya Bailes Flamencos, San Francisco: flamenco
- 1982-1990 - Quinary Dance Theatre/Moving Basis/KT & Company, San Francisco: modern dance choreography, and improvisation for professional dance company
- 1982-1983 - Cabrillo Elementary School, Pacifica, CA: dance theater/creative movement
- 1982-1984 - California League for the Handicapped, San Francisco: creative movement
- 2006 - Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities grant for “Cantan los Fuegos - Phase II."
- 2004 - L.A. Treasures Award for “Cantan los Fuegos - A concert in celebration of the music and poetry of Manuel de Falla and Federico García Lorca,” presented at the Madrid Theatre Dec. 4 and 5, 2004.
- 2004 - Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities grant for “Cantan los Fuegos.
- 2000 - Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities grant to conduct research with the Gitanos in Jerez de la Frontera.
- 1999, 1996 - Fundación Valparaíso Artist’s Residencies, Mojácar, Spain, to conduct research at the Fundación Federico García Lorca in Madrid and at the Centro Andaluz de Flamenco Library in Jerez de la Frontera. And a second project to conduct research in eastern Andalucía on the Gypsies of Granada, Turre, and Cuevas del Almorzana.
- 1996 - Cultural Cooperation Between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities grant to conduct research at the Fundación Federico García Lorca in Madrid, and to collate those materials at the Fundación Valparaíso in Mojácar.
- 1996 - Cypress College Staff Development Award to attend, participate in, and write about Festival Flamenco Internacional and the 1st Biannual Flamenco Dance History Conference at the University of New Mexico.
- 1993 - UCLA Scholar’s Travel Grant to conduct research at the New York Public Library dance and music collections on Spanish dancers La Argentinita, Pilar López and Jose Greco.
- 1990 - Northern California Grantmakers Award for the presentation of Canciones Nuevas y Añejas, a collaboration of flamenco and modern dance and music celebrating Spanish and Mexican culture.
- 1990 - Zellerbach Family Fund Grant for Canciones Nuevas y Añejas.
Katerina has conducted scholarly research on flamenco, the Gitanos, and on Federico García Lorca in Madrid, Jerez de la Frontera, Granada, and in New York City. She received her M.A. degree in dance at UCLA, and wrote her master’s thesis, “The flamenco artistic lineage of Federico García Lorca and La Argentinita” in 1994. She has since presented papers on flamenco, Lorca, and the Spanish Gypsies at UCLA, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of New Mexico, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City. She has published articles on flamenco and Spanish dance in the scholarly publication, The Dance Research Journal.
Here is a link to one of Katerina's articles. Lorca's Song "Anda Jaleo"