SALERO CALÓ Flamenco Group

 

Salero Caló Flamenco Group brings together performers with a diverse range of musical experience. The group has a collective passion for authentic Flamenco and strives to capture and project the essence and the spirit of the art form through music, song and dance. At its inception the group performed at several private and public functions, including the grand opening of Mount Royal College’s Recreational Center, the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association’s Multi-Cultural Night, and the Calgary Women Show’s Spring Event, and was the featured group during the Medicine Hat Jazz Festival in June 2003.

 

Over the years, the group’s participation included: Expo Latino 2004 (the Calgary Hispanic Festival); The Multi-Cultural Food Fest in 2004 at which the group was invited to perform at the opening ceremony, as the only professional group, to such invitees as the Honorable Steven Harper and other delegates; The First Thursday Inside Out Fair at the EPCOR Center’s Jack Singer; World Peace Conference Concert at which the group performed along with Canadian icon Tom Jackson, Connie Kaldor and Johnny Reid. In the summer of 2005, Salero Caló and Fineza Flamenca Dance School students represented Spain at the Global Festival Fireworks competition and participated in the Dances of Arabia Pavilion during the Festival’s week long cultural celebrations.

 

Salero Caló has also been a regular feature in the Calgary scene and had provided intimate Flamenco shows at the Beat Niq, Village Cantina and Latin Corner Restaurants. The intimate performances are intended to represent traditional Flamenco shows as seen in Spain at Tablaos or Penas.  Over the last couple of year, the group had consistently sold out its performances at the Beat Niq. In the winter of 2007 the group embarked on a three city tour in Alberta performing at the Canmore Collegiate High School Theatre, the Timms Centre for the Arts in Edmonton and the Scotts Block Theatre in Red Deer. The group received very positive feedback particularly from the Edmonton Flamenco community and the Red Deer audience. Members of the group performed in Annette Morcos’s latest production “Raíces – A Journey through the Roots of Flamenco”.  The production took place on May 4 and Nov 16, 2007; both were sold out performances.  Raíces featured several accomplished local guest musicians and dancers as well as unique eastern instrumentations.

 

 

 

MEMBERS:

 

Annette Morcos (Founder / Dancer / Singer)

             

 

Annette Morcos is Calgary’s premier flamenco performer and instructor. She strives to bring out the essence of this unique art form in her performances and through her teaching as director of Fineza flamenca Dance School.  Over the years Annette had the privilege of studying with world-renowned Spanish artists in Spain in the cities of Madrid, Seville and Jerez de la Frontera (a city known as the “cradle of Flamenco”). These artists include: Matilde Coral, Milagro Menjibar, Rafael Campallo, Eva La Yerbabuena, Juana Amaya, Manolo Marin and la Tati among others. Annette returns to Spain every year to further her knowledge of the art.  Her interest in Flamenco is not limited to dance. Annette has studied Flamenco singing since 1996 with such teachers as Oscar Nieto, Carmen de la Torre in Seville, Juan Rodriquez in Madrid, and Melchora Ortega in Jerez. Her grasp of the techniques for singing Flamenco is facilitated by her knowledge of the Middle Eastern style of song and through her Mediterranean upbringing.

 

As a performer, Annette was a member of the Flamenco Trio “Ocurrencia”.  The group performed extensively during the span of two years at various public and private functions and was featured by the Calgary Guitar Society in their year 2000 concert series.  She also performed with Peter Knight, a Calgary recording artist, and his Fuego Flamenco Ensemble at private and public functions including a performance at the Betty Mitchell Concert Hall and at the 2002 Canada Day Celebration. Annette is the founder of the Flamenco group Salero Caló.  The group has been performing together since 2003.  At its inception the group with its original line-up was featured at the 2003 Medicine Hat Jazz Festival.  In August 2003, Annette presented and performed in the highly successful ‘Spain meets Canada’ concert.  The concert also featured artists from Spain and Canada. Following that, she performed in several Western Canadian cities both as a member of Salero Caló and as a soloist. In September 2004, Annette and some of her students performed at the sold-out Rhythm of Peace – a Tango show at the University of Theatre. In March 2005, Annette’s second production “Ritmos y Sonidos” was sold-out and in March of 2006 she presented her third production “Encuentros” featuring accomplished international guest artists from Phoenix and San Antonio.   Annette’s latest production “Raíces” took place in May and November 2007.  The concert took its audience on a journey exploring the roots of Flamenco.  It featured accomplished local musicians and dancers as well as unique instrumentations. 

 

 

Maria Regnier (Dancer)

 

 

 

Maria Regnier has always enjoyed the rewards of dance. Growing up in Saskatoon, she took classes in ballet, jazz and tap since the age of five.  Throughout her university years, Maria was a member of the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble, performing in Canada and abroad. It was at this time she also became involved with Flamenco and danced with Alma Flamenca in Saskatoon under the direction of Kari Alba.  Upon completing her degrees in Kinesiology and Education at the University of Saskatchewan, Maria moved to Calgary to teach. Over the past two and a half years, she has been performing around Calgary with Salero Caló Group. She has traveled to Spain on several occasions studying with a number of flamenco dancers in Seville, Granada and Madrid.

 

 

Francesca Canalizo (Dancer)

 

 

Francesca has been involved with dance since the age of nine.  In her youth she gained extensive training in Jazz.  Francesca started her studies of Flamenco in 1998.  Since then she has studied with many known flamenco artists, such as Claudia Carolina, “Sabas" from Mexico, Oscar Nieto, Claire Marchand, Carmen Infante, Francine Sweet, Kari Alba, La Cintia and Alejandro Granados from Spain, and locally, Joselina Chouinard. She recently returned from Spain where she was able to study under the world-renowned El Guito. Francesca has performed at many local venues and festivals throughout Calgary, including Heritage day and Family day events. Her expression of flamenco is always filled with passion and is complemented with her Mediterranean background.

 

 

David Matyas (Guitarist)

 

 

David began to realize a passion for the art of flamenco when he saw a concert by the great maestro of flamenco guitar, Paco de Lucia, in Calgary several years ago.  He has studied with Calgary-based flamenco guitarist Peter Knight, and has been to Spain to study in Madrid.  David has been performing extensively in Calgary area over the last few years with Salero Caló and other Flamenco dancers.  David hopes to return to Spain next year to further his studies.  

 

OTHER:

 

Robin Tufts – Percussionist

Jonathan Lewis - Violinist

Pradeep Vyas – Percussionist