¡Viva flamenco! Providing skills that can help pay the bills

Parents waited anxiously in the hallway as their young dancers could be heard rhythmically stomping their feet, clapping their hands and keeping the beat to up-tempo flamenco music for the Ensemble Español Youth Company's annual auditions.

Northeastern Illinois University's award-winning flamenco dance company hosted the auditions on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. on the main campus in Building J. Dedicated to flamenco dance, this dynamic Latin cultural institution is one of the few dance companies to exist in-residence on the campus of a university anywhere in the United States, and has been a dynamic part of NEIU's campus for the last 30 years. The Ensemble Español Youth Company is a world-class dance ensemble founded by Dame Libby Kamiko, a professor in the Department of Music and Dance. The professional Ensemble and the Youth Company make up Ensemble Español, which participates in dance competitions and festivals around the world.

Audition participants included 10 year-old Laila Galecki from Bensenville, whose mother, Cindy Galecki, deplored the lack of cultural programming in the suburbs. Galecki said that she is delighted that Ensemble Español's Youth Company exists to provide an important enrichment of her daughter's cultural heritage. Another audition hopeful, Teodoro Bartels, 11, noted that scholarships are offered to dancers who would otherwise not be able to afford the tuition for flamenco dance lessons.

Chandel Spurgeon, the mother of 11 year-old Yisrael, said that she herself had taken beginner flamenco classes with Dame Libby nine years ago. Spurgeon tried exposing her daughter to flamenco and was delighted to learn that she loved it.

"Being from a Latino background, flamenco is an important part of our culture," Spurgeon said while listening to the melodic sound of her daughter's feet tapping in tune with the music. "The music, the movement—flamenco is strong, passionate and aggressive. There is nothing airy about flamenco; it is very grounded, graceful and elegant. As a performer and an audience member, you can't help but feel mesmerized by such a unique dance form."

This strong, passionate dance is predominantly full of female dancers, although parent Carmen Alvarado is doing her best to counteract that fact. Alvarado's three sons, Mario, 13, Brandon, 10 and Jacob, nine, have been dancing flamenco for the last 18 months and they all really enjoy it. A testimony to their commitment to the dance was their recent audition for Ensemble Español.

Abby Ventura, NEIU sophomore, gushed with the fact that while she was performing with the Ensemble Español Youth Company at the Bucktown Arts Fest in August, she was selected for the first-annual Effie Mihopoulos Scholarship for her exceptional dance skills. Ventura believes that dancing flamenco with the Ensemble Español Youth Company is not only an incredible opportunity to dance, but it also provides skills that can help pay the bills.