Siudy Garrido Flamenco Company Comes to the Lobero

Bringing a contemporary vision to an ancient Spanish art form is no small task, but internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer Siudy Garrido manages to swirl traditional and ultramodern techniques into a brand of flamenco that’s entirely her own. The artistic vision of Siudy Garrido Flamenco Company’s Flamenco Intimo takes the stage on Saturday, June 4, at the Lobero Theatre. 

We caught up with Garrido while she was in tech rehearsals in her birthplace, Caracas, Venezuela. Now headquartered in Miami, her company travels the world, exciting audiences with a unique blend of this vibrant art from. 

Flamenco is in your blood, and your mother was very accomplished with an academy of her own.What are the distinctions between traditional flamenco and your contemporary, cutting-edge interpretation that brings in other styles of dance and music?  I first studied traditional flamenco at my mother’s academy but had an early taste of stage work when Joaquín Cortés invited me back to Caracas to dance a bulería in a 2,000-seat venue. When I was 17, superstar Antonio Canales’s company had me audition to substitute for the principal lead female in Bernarda de Alba (the lead was sick). I had to learn the whole show and rehearse in a day and perform the next day, again, at a 2,000-seat venue. Mr. Canales wanted to take me on tour, but my family didn’t allow it.