After traveling the world as a flamenco dancer, working at the University of New Mexico as an adjunct professor of flamenco, Pablo Rodarte is returning home, to Denver, to start a school of flamenco dance. “It’s the hottest thing in Europe and Japan,” he says of this spicy Spanish dance form. “The Japanese have poured millions of dollars into this art form, and it’s also big in Australia, South Africa, New York and California.” Rodarte graduated from Cathedral High School and left for Spain in the mid-’60s to follow his passion for flamenco. He lived in Spain for 24 years, studying with the great masters of flamenco. Now he wants to bring this vibrant art form back to Denver.
What’s the news on your upcoming workshops? They’re based on Afro-Cuban flamenco dance songs called guajiras, which are based on round-trip songs, ida y vuelta. The round-trip songs came from when Spanish came to the New World and picked up Afro-Cuban rhythms and songs that were part of the slave trade, and took them back to Spain, which influenced the flamenco repertoire.
How old is flamenco? That’s a big subject of discussion right now. Flamenco has five influences: Andalusian, Jewish, Moorish, gypsy and liturgical – the church. Flamenco as the world knows it dates back to the late 1800s in southern Spain.
How did you fall in love with flamenco? I saw Jose Greco when I was a young kid in the ’50s, and I went crazy when I saw it. I was already a ballet and jazz dancer. Flamenco was a hot item in those days. The golden era of flamenco dance in this country was the ’50s and ’60s.
What are your hopes in starting a flamenco school in Denver? I’ve already nurtured a flamenco dance company in Albuquerque, Dance España. But I couldn’t compete anymore with Maria Benitez flamenco, it’s a very small place. I thought, Denver is a big city, my family is there, I know people. I got a lot of negative reactions from people, they said there’s nothing there in Denver. I said, ‘Perfect!’ It’s virgin ground, and there’s a huge Hispanic population here.
How are your Saturday classes with kids? They’re ballet trained, so they pick it up so easily. I have to prepare for those classes, they’re so brilliant.
What about other kids you’ve taught previously? I’ve turned out many dancers who’ve gone to Spain to become professionals. They’ve married Spaniards, Gypsies. I’ve done that whole trip.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
For information about flamenco workshops in Boulder and Colorado Springs, call 303-895-0283 or visit .
