Eva Lucena Photo by Natalia Proskina, 2012Eva Lucena has more to celebrate than her career as a renowned flamenco and classical dancer. As an educator and performer, she has helped raise the level of cultural awareness in New Jersey.
In honor of her journey and accomplishments as founder of the Fords-based Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre, the company will host “A Forty Year Flamenco Journey” at 3 p.m. Oct. 11, featuring her most notable choreographies and performances, including her crowd-pleasing “Siguiriyas.”
“I’m bringing in the past and showing you the future,” she said. “This whole concert is a celebration.”
Dating back to the 18th century, the “Siguiriyas” dance encapsulates the historical lament of the gypsies and is accompanied by singing.
“I’ve danced the ‘Siguiriyas’ for the past 30 years with a partner,” Lucena said, adding that viewers are always captivated by the performance.
Former Alborada member Chavela Castellano will accompany Lucena, as she did in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Spanish dance involves many dance forms,” Lucena said. “We’ve changed a few things, but it goes back 120 years.”
Historically, the flamenco style concentrated less on footwork and was predominantly performed by men. “Things change over centuries, and now there is more emphasis on feet. Today, both men and women take part in footwork,” she said.
The event will be held at the Hamilton Stage for the Performing Arts in Rahway, with performances by soloist and protégé Krystina Cardenas, soloist Teresa Rodriguez, guitarist Carlos Revollar and singer Dominico Caro. Alborada principal dancer Lisa Botalico will also perform.
Each member has worked alongside Lucena for many years, and she has discovered and exposed talent such as singer David Castellano, whom she met 30 years ago. She describes her team as a family of “wonderful professional dancers and musicians” who share her passion for Spanish dance.
Lucena’s journey is no familiar tale. At a young age, she danced many different styles. During a visit in Spain, she was captivated by a performance of dancing gypsies, and she felt compelled to join in the movement.
It was there that a gypsy noticed Lucena and told her that her destiny was to be a flamenco dancer.
“Dance is in my blood. I never looked back,” she said. “I’ve had a very full life.”
No stranger to the stage, Lucena has toured countries such as England, Italy and Switzerland as a soloist accompanied by flamenco dancer Sebastian Castro Vallejo.
In the 1970s, she became a principal dancer of the Maria Alba Dance Co., which was renamed Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre once Lucena obtained full ownership of the troupe. She has appeared on television for the New Jersey Network’s “Hispanic Youth Showcase,” served on the board of Dance New Jersey and has been featured in the New York Times.
Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre is unique in its display of cultural fusions of flamenco with Jewish, Moorish, Latin American and many other backgrounds.
“We don’t consider ourselves pure flamenco; we’re cross-cultural. We’re showing you 40 years of history and all of those styles,” Lucena said.
Claudia Morena, a soloist who also serves as the troupe’s marketing chairwoman, will perform at the Oct. 11 event. She said she is excited to promote Alborada’s mission of spreading cultural awareness within the community.
“It’s not just showing dance. It’s showing people can come together. We want to educate people [about] Spanish culture,” Morena said.
She added that Alborada is the only dance company on the East Coast that focuses on Spain’s interaction of other cultures.
Morena said she hopes the upcoming show will demonstrate how much Lucena has contributed to cultural arts in New Jersey.
Tickets for the performance are $20, or $12 for seniors and students.
Call the box office at 732-499-8226, email [email protected] or visit www.ucpac.org.
For more information about the troupe, visit www.alboradadance.org.