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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Noemi Santana
TANA Communications
(917) 593-9650

Café Cantante Transports the Audience
From the Deep to the Lighthearted

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Ft. Lauderdale, FL – July 22, 2009 – Tablao Flamenco returns to the Parker Playhouse Stage, 707 NE 8th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL on Sunday July 26th with two performances of Café Cantante at 3:00 and 7:00 PM. Café Cantante, accompanied by coffee and dessert, is one of Flamenco in the Sun’s most popular events bringing audience and artists face to face in the close café atmosphere that engages the senses through the riveting highs and lows of this artform that combines dance, music and cante jondo (deep throat singing).

“Like Flamenco in its natural Spanish setting, Café Cantante features South Florida’s top local Flamenco talent. Dancers, musicians and singers collaborate in a raw, electrifying improvisational approach that generally brings the audience to its feet with loud bravos and olés,” stated Ms. Damaris Ferrer, co-creator and Artistic Director of Flamenco in the Sun.

The cast of Café Cantante is headlined by a darling of the Flamenco circuit in South Florida, Paco Fonta, who is internationally recognized as a foremost Flamenco guitarist, singer, and composer. He has been praised as an accomplished singer of Cante Jondo, the most authentic, profound, and difficult of the Flamenco styles. Born in a small town near Jaen in the Andalusia region of southern Spain, he learned to sing Flamenco by listening to his grandmother sing at home. He began his professional career performing in tablaos and festivals accompanying singers and dancers.

Joining him are Leslie Roybal, a native of New Mexico, who is proficient in both the Contemporary dance and Flamenco idioms, and who continues her studies in New York and Spain. Leslie has performed with companies such as The Metropolitan Opera, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, M’oro Flamenco as well as in the many New York tablaos. Also as bailaora will be Paola Escobar (Colombia, SA). Paola was part of “Afrocontemporaneo 34% Visibles” project and participated in the “Let’s Kick Up Our Heels Festival” in Toronto, Festival de San Sebastian in Spain, and the Festival de Teatro de Medellín, among others. As a Flamenco dancer, she has worked in Havana, Cuba with the companies Ecos and Aires. Joining them will be Christian Puig from Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 19, he began his studies in classical guitar at the conservatory of Manuel de Falla as well as Flamenco guitar. He continued his Flamenco studies with Quique de Cordoba and furthered his studies in Jazz, Bossa Nova and contemporary music with various teachers. Since 1985, Christian has been performing with numerous Flamenco companies and in various tablaos and has shared the stage with such artists as Antonio Granjero, Rafaél de Triana, Jesús Montoya, Chuscales and many others. Completing the Cuadro Flamenco will be Romulo Bernal who was born in Miami, Florida after his parents settled here from Ecuador. In 2004, Romulo began playing Flamenco Cajón, which he quickly mastered and began working with artists in the local Flamenco community such as José "Pansekito" Cortéz, Paco Fonta, Clarita Filgueiras, Luís "el Tiburon" Linares, Bailes Ferrer and Carlos Puig.

Flamenco in the Sun 2009 events are funded in part by the Broward Board of County Commissioners and the Broward Cultural Affairs Council; the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts; and the State of Florida Arts Council. Additional support is provided by The Broward Center for the Performing Arts; Riverwalk A&E; the Centro Cultural Español and the Spanish Ministry of Culture; the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society; the Museum of Art of Fort Lauderdale; and the University Center for the Performing Arts. Marketing and publicity support provided by FlamencoBuzz.com, Flamenconote.com, WBWP Canal 57, Inkbyte Design, and TANA Communications.

For registration, ticket purchases, scholarship information and schedules, the public is invited to visit the festival’s website: www.flamencointhesun.com or call (954) 288-0882.