DanceVersity Faculty - Clara Rodriguez
Clara Rodriguez has dedicated the last 20 years to the study of Flamenco dance and music, along with parallel training in classical piano. She began her dance training in her native Santa Barbara and continued her profession in Los Angeles and most recently in Andalucia, Spain, where she resided for the past two years.
While living in Granada she performed regularly at such legendary venues as Tablao Albayzin, Venta el Gallo, Eshavira, Zoraya de los Jardines, and has performed across Spain and Portugal.
She has studied flamenco dance in Spain with Concha Vargas, Juana Amaya, Andrés Marín, Isabel Bayón, Andres Peña, Úrsula Lopez, Alicia Márquez, Ana Calí, Luis de Luis and Patricia Guerrero. Flamenco cante (singing) teachers include Inés Bacán and Miguel Ángel Vargas Rubio, both of Lebrija in Andalucia.
She has performed regularly in the Los Angeles area in the Fountain Theater's "Forever Flamenco" series, Kodak Theater, Greek Theater, and Alex Theater. She was a soloist in the Benise "Nights of Fire" PBS Special and twenty-city US tour.
Other film work include a feature on Dance Channel TV, Iron and Wine "Boy with a Coin" music video, and as choreographer and soloist for trailer "The Spiritual Tourist". As a classical pianist, she has been awarded various scholarships and won 2nd prize in the Alice Nelson Concerto Competition. She has performed as soloist on three occasions with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra for the "Young Soloists Showcase" and again with the Goleta Chamber Orchestra.
She has taught piano in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Sevilla, Spain. She holds a B.A. from UCLA in Ethnomusicology.
Video of Clara at Eshavira, baile e piano
