Professional company
Today the company consists of over 40 dancers, singers, musicians and administrative staff. It presents over one hundred Spanish dance educational programs a year, reaching nearly 20,000 students in arts education programming. The Ensemble Español has trained over 95 professional dancers, taught over 7,800 academic Spanish dance class students at Northeastern Illinois University, and performed over 135 original full-length choreographies and over 4,000 concerts worldwide. The Ensemble Español has collaborated with the Chicago Human Rhythm Project and its Stomping Ground Festival, the Flamenco Festival produced by Instituto Cervantes, and theYouth company
In 1985, committed to bringing this culturally specific art form and education to a range of students across the city to change lives, Komaiko and Lillian Hemnover, executive director of the Frederick Funston School, launched the Ensemble Español's youth company. The Youth Company contains the Junior Division (ages 10–18) and the Senior Division (18+). The Youth Company functions as a pre-professional training program to the professional company, which holds annual auditions. The Youth Company performs at annual holiday concerts, the annual American Spanish Dance and Music Festival, and the Our Chance to Dance Youth Festival. Curated and produced by Ensemble Español, the Our Chance to Dance Youth Festival invites other training academies to participate in master classes, special events, and a final performance. Past participants include Kuumba Lynx, Move Me Soul, ChiArts, Chicago Lights, Ballet Chicago, the Joel Hall Dance Youth Ensemble, the Red Clay Youth Ensemble, and the Natya Dance Theatre Youth Ensemble.Classes and community workshops
The annual American Spanish Dance and Music Festival is a two-week event held each June at a range of venues, including Northeastern Illinois University, the North Shore Center for The Performing Arts, and the Old Town School of Folk Music, among others. Activities consist of three concert length performances, master classes and workshops, musical concerts, and seminars and panel discussions. The master classes, open to the public, are targeted to aspiring and established dancers throughout the region. The festival has involved the works and performances of artists and choreographers such as Juan Mata and Ana Gonzales, founding members of the National Ballet of Spain; Camela Greco, master dancer, choreographer, and daughter of legendary Jose Greco; Paloma Gomez, former principal dancer with the National Ballet of Spain; Rachel Gomez, former principal dancer and rehearsal mistress of the National Ballet of Spain, and many others. In addition, the Ensemble Español conducts a variety of community workshops for all ages and levels of experience throughout the year as well a college credit dance courses atArts education programs
The Paso A Paso, or Step by Step, education program, created and taught by professional dance educators, focuses on Flamenco, folkloric, and classical dance instruction in three formats for young students and dancers. The three components of Ensemble Español's Paso a Paso Arts Education Program are: Spain's Dancing Rhythms consists of a 45-minute lecture/demonstration, led by a professional dancer, that covers Spanish dance and music vocabulary, instruments, rhythms, and the history and styles of Spanish dance. Tales of Spain consists of an hour-long concert style performance, with professionally dancers typically presented in Northeastern Illinois University's auditorium, and a lecture designed to teach children about Spanish dance styles and the cultures that influenced their origins. ¡Bailamos! Residencies consist of an eight-week (or longer) schedule with curriculum that concentrates on dance movement and expression, teamwork, Spanish dance technique, and the three styles of Spanish dance. In addition to Paso a Paso, the Ensemble Español participates in the After School Matters program, founded by the late Chicago First Lady, Margaret Daley. The organization teaches Spanish dance in four Chicago public schools during a full school year.The Company
Leadership *Dame Libby Komaiko, Founder * Irma Suarez Ruiz, Artistic Director * Jorge Pérez, Executive & Associate Artistic Director *Kim Grisby, Associate Executive Director Dancers *José Torres, First Dancer *Crystal Ruiz, Principal Dancer, Co-Artistic Director to the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Youth Company *Monica Saucedo, Principal Dancer, Co-Artistic Director to the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Youth Company *Olivia Serrano, Soloist, Rehearsal Mistress *Juan Carlos Castellon, Principal Dancer *Luis Beltran, Company Dancer *Frida Medina, Company Dancer, Instructor *Amanda Saucedo, Company Dancer, Instructor *Abigail Ventura, Company Dancer *Jonathan Pacheco, Company Dancer *Matthew Jalac, Company Dancer *Nalanie Molina, Company Dancer, Instructor *Samantha Micklewright, Company Dancer *Tasiana Villalobos, Company Apprentice (on leave), Instructor *Laila Galecki, Company Apprentice, Instructor *Abigail Mosquera, Company Apprentice *Irene Sivianes Fernàndez, Company Apprentice Notable Former Company Dancers *Julia Hinojosa, Former Principal Dancer, Former Artistic Director of the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Youth Company, Guest Dancer *Claudia Pizarro, Former First Dancer, Guest Dancer *Leonard Perez, Former Company Dancer, Guest Dancer *Nestor Corona, Former Company Dancer, Guest DancerArtistic and technical staff
*Anna Czajun, Training Professional *Martha Montes, Training Professional *Dustin Derry, Lighting Designer/Production Stage Manager *Sarah Lackner, Technical Director/Lighting Designer Musicians/vocalists *Paco Fonta, singer/guitarist *David Chiriboga, guitarist *Manuel Palacin, singer *Javier Saume Mazzei, percussionist *Patricia Ortega, singer *Luis Galvez, tenorExternal links
References
{{authority control Dance companies in Chicago Performing groups established in 1975 Dance in Illinois Northeastern Illinois University