Cantan Los Fuegos | Mojacar Flamenco

The Ponce Project

Intimate Music, Intimate Dance

Katerina, Albertossy & Masha in Prelude No. 12 with Stephen on guitar.

THE PROJECT

We work with some wonderful dancers!

Over the past few years, we have been lucky to be able to work with some great dancers. As we get ready for the premiere of Cantan Los Fuegos in 2022, we decided to work with some of these artists to create a series of short pieces to the music of Manuel Maria Ponce's Preludes for solo guitar.

Albertossy Espinosa

Each dancer was asked to select one or more preludes . . .

They then created a solo, collaborating with Katerina on the choreography and with Stephen on creating the performance.

We are, at heart, a flamenco company, so the pieces are performed to live music. Each dancer works closely with Stephen on guitar so that the music and dance breath together the way they do in flamenco.

The pieces are very short. The longest one is just over two minutes, the shortest is just 47 seconds. There is no over-arching theme or story. Each of Ponce's preludes is a jewel unto itself, as are the dances.

We are in the process of recording these pieces and plan to premiere the video in August, 2021. join our mailing list to be notified when they become available online.

Beatriz Vasquez

about the music

Manual Maria Ponce

In the late 1920's, Andrés Segovia asked Mexican composer Manuel Maria Ponce to write 24 preludes for the guitar, one in each major and minor key (in the manner of similar works by Bach and Chopin).

Segovia selected twelve of those preludes to be published in 1930. The complete set wasn't published until 1980, by guitarist Miguel Alcázar.

We use the twelve that Segovia selected to create this piece. Stephen performs these pieces live with the dancers in performance.

Here you can hear the rehearsal recordings Stephen created for the dancers to begin creating their dances.

As you'll hear, each piece has a particular style and mood. There is never just one way to interpret any off these pieces. It's what makes them endlessly interesting to play, hear or dance.

ABOUT THE DANCES

Each dancer was asked to choose a Prelude to work on.

The dancers then developed the choreography either in collaboration with Katerina or on their own.

The work was further refined in rehearsal with Stephen and Katerina. Although the dances reflect a broad array of styles, each piece was treated like a flamenco solo, dancer working closely guitarist to develop the phrasing and beats - to breath together.

Some pieces tell stories, some reflect moods, some celebrate movement and music together - all of them seek to capture the joy of live artists working together after having been held apart for too long.