Pre-concert talk

Pre-concert talk – CANCELLED

March 10, 2020

The 4^th annual Edmonton Flamenco Festival regretfully had to cancel their performance on Friday, March 13^th at the Winspear Centre as well as all workshops to be held as part of the festival. Read the full Press Release at this link

We extend our gratitude to Calgary flamenca, Marilyn Malinsky, for her support of the festival and regret she could not give her pre-concert talk with an overview of the history of flamenco.

Marilyn Malinsky

Marilyn began her dance studies as an adult because of the music – the appeal of exercising to music instead of going to the gym being the attraction. She had no idea it would become her life. The ballet school she attended had a guest teacher from California who had studied with Lola Montes (a pioneer of Spanish dance and flamenco in California) and also a bit in Spain and it was through him she was introduced to flamenco. She began her study of flamenco with Claudia Carolina who was artistic director and choreographer at Theatre Flamenco in Toronto.

Eventually, with Claudia’s guidance and support she opened her own school, Studio Flamenco, in Calgary. Oscar Nieto, founder of Mozaico Flamenco in Vancouver also became and continues to be a valued teacher and mentor. It was at Studio Flamenco that she first met Jane Ogilvie who was her student. As well as teaching she had an active performing career in for a decade while making numerous trips to Spain to study

It was during a trip to Spain in 1997 that she realized that she had to live in Spain to fully immerse herself in flamenco. She moved to Spain in 1998 to study with her maestra, La Tati, at the famed school Centro de Arte Flamenco y Danza Española Amor de Dios in Madrid. She also studied frequently with El Güito, Paco Romero and La Cintia. In 2007 she returned to Canada and, while retired from dancing, she continues to pursue her love of flamenco researching the music and history of flamenco and visits Spain regularly to do research and study.