Flamenco del Encuentro presents:
THE HERENCIA ARABE PROJECT

Traditional Flamenco music from the south of Spain owes a great part of its heritage to the music of the Middle East and especially the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2001, inspired by knowledge shared with us by Monsignor Sharbel, pastor to the Lebanese community here in Philadelphia and musician, singer, composer and conductor for over 60 years, and by the great respect and friendship between Flamenco artists Tito and Anna Rubio and Middle-Eastern artists Roger Mgrdichian, Joseph Tayoun and Michele Tayoun the "Herencia Arabe project" was born. The program ranges from traditional Flamenco and Middle-Eastern rhythms to modern compositions and choreography that highlights and celebrates our shared roots.

This program is dedicated to Monsignor Sharbel, William Tayoun, St. Maron's Church, and to Deborah Kodish and Toni Shapiro-Phim of the Philadelphia Folklore Project, who have given us priceless emotional, intellectual and financial support.

ARTISTS:
TITO RUBIO- flamenco guitar
ROGER MGRDICHIAN-oud
JOSEPH TAYOUN-darbukka
ANTONIA ARIAS-voice and palmas
ANTONIO HIDALGO - guest dancer
ALFONSO CID- guest singer

with dancers:
ANNA RUBIO, MICHELE TAYOUN, MARIAH DEL CHICO, HERSJEL WEHRENS

This work was made possible by:

• The Musicians-in-Residence program of the Philadelphia Folklore Project, funded in part by the Philadelphia Music Project, a program of the Pew Charitable Trusts administered by Settlement Music School.
• The Dance Happens Here initiative of the Philadelphia Folklore Project funded in part by Dance Advance, a program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, administered by Drexel University.
• 2004 Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellowship in Folk and Traditional Arts, administered by the Institute for Cultural Partnerships (Tito Rubio)
• Leeway Foundation window of opportunity grant (Anna Rubio).
• 2004 Pew Fellowship in the Arts (Tito Rubio)

Be sure to proceed to the photos page from this event on the next page!

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:

TITO RUBIO
Flamenco guitarist Hipolito (Tito) Rubio was born in 1954 in Monsagro, Spain, a small village in western Salamanca, about thirty miles from the border with Portugal. He remembers seeing his grandfather playing the tamborin (drum) and flute in town processions, as well as playing castanets and dancing the jota, a regional traditional dance. He also remembers hearing brass bands, attending fiestas, and playing with gypsy children when he was small. Rubio’s father was a music aficionado and was the first to put a guitar in his hands, a toy guitar bought in Madrid as the family was on its way to a new life in Australia. In the early 1960s many Spaniards emigrated to Australia, Tito Rubio’s family among them. Rubio eventually settled in Melbourne, which had a large Spanish population; they remained in that city for almost thirty years, where Rubio started to play guitar, studied flamenco with Manolo Varela and others, and eventually became active as a performer in the city’s Spanish community. As his knowledge grew, he appeared on radio and TV broadcasts in Australia, and became known as something of a boy wonder for his abilities. In the early 1980s Rubio began to accompany singers and dancers, which requires a distinct set of skills, as well as continuing to play solo. In the mid-1980s he relocated to Spain, where he was exposed to traditional flamenco families for the first time and studied with some of the world¹s greatest guitarists. From 1986 through the early 1990s, Rubio immersed himself in flamenco life, taking every opportunity to observe and participate in classes, performances, and flamenco gatherings in fiestas and bars. One of his principal teachers at this time was Juan Maya Marote, of the famous Marote gypsy clan, and Rubio says that to this day, other guitarists recognize Marote¹s style in his playing, particularly in his strong rasqueados , a particular type of strum-flourish that uses all the fingers. He also studied with David Serva, an American who has been accepted as an authentic player among flamencos in Spain. Rubio accompanied dance classes in flamenco studios in Madrid for Ciro, who is recognized as one of the greatest dancers and teachers in the country. Tito appeared in the Festival de la Ville in Madrid in 1989 as part of the company of Danza Espanola Contemporanea of Juan Maya Marote and performed in the Royal Palace of Morocco for Prince Felipe of Spain and King Hussein of Morocco. Tito performed with companies from Spain in various cities in Asia and in Europe. He made an extensive tour of the Middle East including the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt. In 1995 he toured the United States and worked for several months with Maria Benitez’ Teatro Flamenco in New Mexico. It was on this trip that he met his wife and artistic partner, Philadelphia native Anna Arias Rubio. Rubio falls between two generations of flamencos. The older generation tended to apprentice with a single master and had a broader knowledge of regional flamenco styles in Spain, while their playing style was not flashy. The younger players, says Rubio, are technical virtuosi, sometimes incorporate influences from jazz and blues, frequently learn to read music, and may specialize in just one aspect of flamenco playing: solo performance, accompanying singers, or accompanying dancers. Yet, except for the genuine young masters such as Domingo Ortega (Rubio’s friend and colleague), their repertoire is more generic and limited. Rubio is engaged in an ongoing process of understanding and performing his art. While he says the flamenco life is not possible in the same way in Philadelphia as it was in Spain, he remains dedicated to sharing the beauty of the art with all. Tito was awarded an Artistic Fellowship for Folk and Traditional Arts by the PA Council for the Arts for 2004, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts for 2004. Tito was Musician-in-residence at the Philadelphia Folklore Project for 2003-2004. Tito is also co-musical director, with Roger Mgrdichian, of Herencia Arabe.

ROGER MGRDICHIAN
Roger Mgrdichian specializes in the oud, an ancestor of the European lute, and dabbles on the saz (Turkish long-necked lute) and cumbus (Turkish fretless banjo) and sarod (which he has stopped dabbling with). He is from an Armenian musical family: his father Roger and uncle George were members of the Gomidas Band, a well-known Philadelphia-based Armenian ensemble in the1960s. His uncle went on to become one of the most accomplished oud players in the world. He performs regularly in diverse styles of Middle Eastern music (Armenian dance music, belly dance accompaniment, classical Arab and Turkish music, Turkish folk and Arab pop) both locally and regionally with several different ensembles. Since 2001 he has been performing and teaching about the diversity and similarities of Middle Eastern cultures for Strings for Schools. A member of the Jewish/Arab ensemble Atzilut: Concerts for Peace, he has worked with Simon Shaheen and singers Jack Kessler and Maurice Chedid. Roger has participated in concerts with Flamenco Ole, and has recently started a collaboration with flamenco guitarist Tito Rubio for the Herencia Arabe project which explores North African/Middle Eastern roots in flamenco music. He will be one of PFP's artists in residence for 2005-2006. He is also currently working on several new compositions for Jaffna which highlight the interplay between the oud and the sarod playing of Raji Malik Joseph Tayoun Joe, a second generation Lebanese American, is an accomplished Middle Eastern percussionist. He started playing at age eight at his family’s renowned Middle East Restaurant in Philadelphia where live authentic Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Armenian, Greek, and Israeli music and dance were performed nightly for forty years. Learning from many of the area’s top Middle Eastern players, Joe became adept at the many styles of drumming within these different traditions. He also performed much of this repertoire with an ensemble at the Nile restaurant in Philadelphia, and with other ensembles locally and nationally. Having taught music in a New Jersey public school for years, he currently teaches drumming at St. Maron’s Hall in the heart of Philadelphia’s Lebanese community, in part, through PFP's FAME program. In the summers, he teaches at Al-Bustan Arabic Day Camp along with Middle Eastern dancer Michele Tayoun. He also conducts workshops at conferences and universities. Joseph’s performance history includes seasons at two of the world’s largest casinos: the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and Foxwoods in Connecticut. He has participated in several residencies with Zakir Hussain and with Simon Shaheen at Swarthmore College and The Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. He accompanied Yair Dolal of Israel for performances in Princeton, New Jersey, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and performs with Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Ohad "Udi" Bar David, and his Intercultural Journeys ensemble. For the past decade, Joseph has also been playing "Concerts for Peace" with the Arabic-Jewish ensemble Atzilut, with whom he has performed at the United Nations, and traveled throughout the U.S. as well as Germany and Portugal. Currently participating in PFP's Folk Arts Education program, and collaborating in Tito Rubio's PFP artist residency this year, he will be one of PFP's artists in residence in 2005-2006.

ANTONIO HIDALGO
Antonio Hidalgo began dancing professionally in Flamenco festivals in Cordoba, Spain. From 1984 until 1989 he was a member of the Spanish Ballet of Carmen Mota, touring Italy, France, Montecarlo, South America, Miami and several venues in Spain. He has also performed with the Ballet of Antonio Gades, the Ballet of Jose Greco, Maria Benitez Estampa Flamenca and in Tokyo with Tablao El Flamenco. With his own company he has performed in various venues in Japan and Spain. In 1990, as an independent solo dancer, he worked in Costa del Sol with various companies and flamenco "tablaos". He has directed and choreographed several shows including "Fiesta de Andalucia" in Spain and for the "Palais des Beux Arts" in Brussels. Since 1998 Antonio Hidalgo has been working with FLAMENCO VIVO CARLOTA SANTANA. His new works include Mano a Mano, Bailaor-Bailaora and Bailes de Ida y Vuelta premiering, to great acclaim, at The Joyce Theater in New York City. In 2004 he began co-directing "Aroma Flamenco Dance Company" with Inmaculada Ortega

ANNA RUBIO
Anna Rubio began her training in dance and music at age four. After training in ballet at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, she started studying modern dance in her early teens with Joan Kerr and Susan Hess. Anna moved to San Francisco in 1982, continuing her modern training with several teachers, including Lucas Hoving and Ed Mock, and commencing her flamenco studies with Rosa Montoya (of the important Montoya Gypsy clan) and with the late Maestro Cruz Luna. By 1986 she was a member of Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco under the direction of Miguel Santos and Adela Clara, performing throughout the Bay Area. In 1991 she returned to Philadelphia and became a member of the Flamenco Ole company under the direction of Julia Lopez and Carlos Rubio (no relation), performing, teaching and giving lecture demonstrations around the country. Anna and her husband, flamenco guitarist Tito Rubio, spent two years in Spain before returning to Philadelphia, where they now teach at the University of the Arts and perform throughout the area with their group Flamenco del Encuentro and their Flamenco and Middle-Eastern fusion group Herencia Arabe. Anna was awarded an Artistic Fellowship for the year 2001 from the Independence Foundation and a Leeway Grant for 2004. Anna and Tito recently returned from a long summer in Spain, where Anna continued her studies with La Chiqui de Jerez, Javier Latorre, Juan Polvillo and Israel and Pastora Galvan. Anna is also Flamenco Editor and critic of the Dance Insider located at www.danceinsider.com.

MICHELE TAYOUN (MEESHA)
Meesha is dynamic and passionate performer, with a unique and innovative style that still maintains the traditional elements of Middle Eastern dance, of which she practiced and performed since childhood. Raised in a Lebanese American family, she she was exposed to all forms of Middle Eastern dance and music from her earliest years. Meesha began dazzling audiences, at a very young age, at her family's renowned Middle Eastern nightclub and restaurant, The Middle East. Meesha has also had training in ballet, modern dance, and jazz, which is evident in her graceful and creative style, but her heart and passion lay within the musical and dance traditions of her heritage. Meesha's dance blends both the Lebanese and Egyptian styles of oriental dance, with her own personal modern flare. Her performance abilities include dancing, as well as singing, and this first hand knowledge of Arabic music is an integral art of her dance interpretation. Meesha continues to enhance her knowledge of Arabic music and song, by performing with accomplished regional performers, and has attended workshops with the award winning, internationally renowned Arabic composer, Simon Shaheen. Meesha is an accomplish dancer and has performed at various folk art festivals, middle eastern clubs, museums and international events, including the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Painted Bride Art Center, the Constitutional Center, and the United Nations. She also performed as a Trump Taj Mahal belly dancer for several years. She performs regularly at various Middle Eastern and Persian clubs, and teaches both belly dancing and Middle Eastern folk dancing (debke) in schools, day camps, and to group and private students. She is currently, a member of the Spiced Route Ensemble, as a folk dancer and vocalist, which presents multi - cultural assemblies and workshops focusing on the Middle East. These assemblies are funded through; Strings for Schools, a non-profit organization that strives to enhance music education and cultural appreciation, in schools where music is deficient. She has also received grant funding, through the Philadelphia Folklore Project, to teach the folkloric dances of Lebanon, to children with in her own community. She is going in her fourth year, as the dance teacher for Al Bustan Day Camp. Al Bustan is an Arabic language day camp that teaches the Arabic language and culture through nature, and the visual and performing arts. Meesha's current projects include Herencia Arabe, which has been grant funded through the Philadelphia Folklore Project.

Mariah del Chico, studied in her home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico with Eva and Joaquín Enciñas and Omayra Amaya, and in Granada, Spain and danced previously in the company of Joaquín Enciñas.

Antonia Arias, daughter of Anna Rubio was first exposed to flamenco in the womb. She has been singing all her life and studied flamenco cante this summer at the Fundació n de Arte Flamenco Cristina Heeren in Seville Spain.

Hersjel Wehrens has studied flamenco for almost fifteen years in his native Holland and in Spain and Germany. He has performed with companies in Holland and Philadelphia.