Dance West Network's Des Arts Dehors/Arts Outside program displays the growth of flamenco in Vancouver

Flamenco matriarch Rosario Ancer mentors Jhoely Triana and Audrey Gaussiran for site-specific works

Post Sponsored by DANCE WEST NETWORK

Jhoely Triana. Photo by artist.

Audrey Gaussiran. Photo by David Wong.

Dance West Network’s Des Arts Dehors/Arts Outside program (DADAO) program has supported dance and performance artists making site-specific work since 2016, in partnership with La danse sur les routes du Québec.

DADAO offers dancers professional training and workshops with a showcase opportunity.  

Rosario Ancer. Photo by Victor Kolstee.

Two artists involved in this year's program are Jhoely Triana and Audrey Gaussiran. An important part of DADAO is mentorship—each artist chooses a mentor to support their artistic and career goals. Triana and Gaussiran chose to work with Vancouver’s matriarch of flamenco, Rosario Ancer.

“Every stage in an artist's journey offers an opportunity for transformation, my role as a mentor is one that I found myself enjoying tremendously. Nourishing other artists with my experiences and seeing how it affects theirs, brings an insight of how important and powerful mentorship is,” Ancer says.

Born in Colombia, Triana is a Vancouver-based flamenco dancer and choreographer mentored by Kasandra "La China" and Oscar Nieto at Al Mozaico Flamenco. In the DADAO program she worked with Rosario Ancer to develop a new work entitled Arboles, which will premiere at the Vines Arts Festival.

“Arboles is a work grounded in flamenco song forms and based on the call and response structure between dancer and musicians but also adds the element of the environment as the additional ‘member’ of the artistic team,” Triana says. “The trees, animals, audience, sounds, and objects will change how we, the performers, feel and react to one another.  Through my mentorship with Rosario, I have found the confidence to explore contemporary elements in flamenco.”

Based in Quebec, and fascinated by a variety of movement styles, Gaussiran trained with international dance masters. Her newest work Ctrl:N immerses the audience in an interactive co-creation of contemporary flamenco.

“Ctrl:N is a contemporary flamenco piece which I am working towards touring in BC in 2023,” Gaussiran says. “I’ve had the privilege to be mentored by Rosario Ancer in this process. This flamenco artist has paved the way for her community, she’s a monument. Her life story, her work, her success to grow an arts organisation are a huge inspiration. I was particularly taken by her piece Mis Hermanas, which is about her personal story. It’s given me the courage to expose my roots in my new creation MOSAÏCO. ”

Post sponsored by the Dance West Network.

---