(entrevista) Demystifying flamenco for Nueva Yorkers

Soledad Barrio and husband Martin Santangelo’s Noche Flamenca company has been performing to sold-out shows at Theater 80 on St. Mark’s Place since June.

Photo by Ester Babb

By Bonnie Rosenstock

Flamenco dancer Soledad Barrio, 40, and her small troupe of singers, guitarists and male dancers, have been performing to sold-out shows at the intimate Theater 80 on St. Mark’s Place since June. It is the eighth or ninth time her company, Noche Flamenca, has performed at this venue since she founded it with husband Martin Santangelo in 1993.

The two have very different personas on and off stage. Barrio, who hails from Madrid, has a commanding presence before audiences. Her arms flow like liquid silk, her facial contortions lay bare her soul and her rapid-fire footwork attacks with strength and resolve. Off stage she is laid back, quietly humorous and family-oriented.

Santangelo, the artistic director of the company, is outgoing and expressive. He is a born and bred New Yorker of Argentine descent, a former flamenco dancer and current stage actor in Spain. He and Barrio live in Madrid, not far from her mother and sisters. They have two daughters, ages 5 and 11, who are living with them temporarily on the Lower East Side until the show closes July 30.


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tags: flamenco, baile, Soledad Barrio, flamenca