12 Musas
contemporary flamenco ensemble
From the many flamenco rhythms based in twelve beats, we find our inspiration.
The 12 beats are our 12 muses, or Doce Musas.
This was a project that I started together with Jonathan Lewis, musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, then based in Calgary, Canada. We were inspired to explore both traditional and contemporary flamenco, interweaving traditional forms with original compositions by Jonathan. All of our pieces always involved elements of improvisation, in both dance and music. Together, we also played with completely free improvisations between dance and a violin, taking risks and exploring where it would take us in the moment. We were interested in including piano into our flamenco ensemble, something that Calgary hasn’t seen before. This project was well recieved by our audiences, resulting in numerous concerts over the years as well as a few recorded pieces. It was also personally incredibly satisfying to be able to create and dance along side our amazing collaborators who supported and believed in me.
Creative team:
Anastassiia Alexander – dance
Jonathan Lewis – violin, viola
Collaborators:
Derek Stoll – piano
Esteban Herrera – piano
Mark Limacher – piano
Ricardo Sánchez – guitar, vocals (Mexico city)
David Matyas – guitar
ALL PROJECTS
Credits
Photography: Larry Kwon
Graphic design: Anastassiia Alexander