Furia Flamenca Dancers

Amy began dancing at age 8, with ballet and modern dance.  She first studied flamenco with Anna Menendez when she was 14.  She then trained extensively with Nancy Sedgwick, Jaime Coronado, and Lourdes Elias, and performed with their company, Spanish Dance Society, beginning in 2003.  Amy began studying with Estela in 2006, and joined Furia Flamenca shortly after.  Amy has also taken workshops with La Farruca, Omyra Amaya, Antonio Vargas, and Lola Greco.

Daniel began dancing flamenco in January 2006.  Prior to flamenco, he studied and danced for 7 months with the Aztlan Dance Company, a contemporary Latin-expressive dance company based in Austin, TX under artistic director Roen Salinas.  Daniel's flamenco instruction and progression is the product of Estela Velez.  Additionally, he's participated in workshops with Maestro Antonio Santaella, Antonio Vargas, and La Farruca.

Jennifer comes to Furia Flamenca with a diverse dance training, from ballet and modern to Congolese and Indian dance.  She attended Alvin Ailey's School of Dance in New York City and performed for two years with Embaje, San Francisco State University's dance company.  During a year studying abroad in Granada, Spain she fell in love with Flamenco and began to take classes.  She greatly missed dancing while teaching English in Japan, but embraced it again after moving to Washington DC.  While in DC, she continued her flamenco studies with Estela Velez.  She has also taken workshops with Gloria de Jerez, Antonio Vargas and La Farruca. She considers herself very lucky to have crossed paths with Estela Velez who has given her the opportunity to continue to perform and to be a part of Furia Flamenca. 

Karina began her flamenco study at Joy of Motion in 2004. She appreciates the many layers of physical, emotional, and musical expression in flamenco, and sees it as a diverse, life-long challenge. Locally she has studied flamenco with Estela Velez.  She has taken workshops with visiting flamenco artists:  La Farruca, Antonio Santaella, Antonio Vargas, Eliezer Truco Pinillos (La Truco), Carmela Greco, and Gloria de Jerez. She has a background in Latin Dance, Irish Stepdance, and Raqs Sharqi (bellydance). She also trains and performs with a local bellydance troop, U Street Caravan.

Katherine began dancing flamenco in 1998.  She has studied locally with Estela Velez and Jaime Coronado.  Katherine enjoys the emotion and rhythm of flamenco music, especially cante.

Katie began dancing when she was ten years old, continuing through college.  Her background is in ballet, jazz, and tap.  She fell in love with flamenco on a family trip to Spain while she was in high school, but she never dreamed she would be performing it herself one day.  She began taking classes with Estela Velez in the summer of 2004 and credits her for her developing style and technique.  She has also attended workshops with Antonio Hidalgo, Juan del Valle, Antonio Vargas, La Farruca, and Antonio Santaella.  During trips to Salamanca, Spain, she has taken classes at the Azabache Escuela de Baile and the Academia de Baile Raquel Gomez.  She feels very blessed to be a part of Furia Flamenca and proud to perform with so many talented and inspiring dancers.

Lillian's background in dance includes ballet, tap, jazz, and traditional Afro-Cuban dance.  She began flamenco as a child in NYC and rediscovered the dance in Washington, DC in 1998.  Since then, she has trained at Joy of Motion, the Oxford Academy, and most recently and extensively, with Estela Velez.  She has also participated in workshops with Antonio Vargas, Lupe Gomez Miguel, Jorge Navarro, Tibu "La Tormenta" Lubart, and has performed professionally throughout the Washington, DC area.  Lillian is drawn to flamenco because of the complexity and challenge of the dance and the artistic diversity attached to the flamenco culture. Lillian currently teaches youth and adult flamenco at the CityDance Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. 

Morgan began studying dance at the age of four with ballet and modern in Laurel, MD.  Upon learning of the form from a friend, she started lessons in flamenco at age nine with Nancy Sedgewick.  Since then she has attended workshops given by Dame Marina Keet, Yloy Ybarra, and Jorge Navarro.  In 1996, Morgan studied with Ziva Cohen and performed throughout the Washington, D.C. area.

A company member since April 2007, Nikki Strong grew up performing musical theatre and loving dance.  Her background includes a variety of styles including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Modern, Hip-Hop, Afro-Caribbean and Salsa.  Although for years she was attracted to the passion and expressiveness of Flamenco, she never persued it, until late 2006, when she started to study seriously under Estela Velez.  She has been hooked ever since.  She finds Flamenco one of the most challenging forms of dance. The dancers, musicians, and singers are structurally inter and intradependent in ways she's never experienced before. Consequently, Nikki is excited to have the opportunity to express that experience and insight on stage.  She says being in Furia Flamenca continues to expand her understanding of life, music, dance, and peforming with "duende" i.e. heart and soul. 

Sylvia was first introduced to dance in Puerto Rico by ballet profile/choreographer Otto Bravo of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba who brought her to the Academia de Baile Zaida Varas where she studied ballet and classical Spanish dance with Judith Marzan and Zaida Varas.  She performed in various venues in Puerto Rico with the Ballet de Zaida Varas.  More recently, in Washington, DC she was drawn to Flamenco searching for a more mature expression of her passion for dance and life in general.  For the past three years she has trained intensively with Estela Velez. Sylvia currently teaches flamenco at Joy of Motion Dance Center, Elan DanceSport in Fairfax, VA, Born2Dance Studio in Vienna, VA, and the Dream in Colors Dance Studio in Annadale, VA.

For Tammy, flamenco was love at first sight!  Soon after moving from Texas to Washington, DC, she saw her first flamenco show and was mesmerized by the profiles' beautiful swirling skirts and fiery footwork.  She began studying flamenco with Ziva Cohen at Joy of Motion in 1995 and performed with Ziva's Spanish Dance Ensemble for over 9 years.  She has performed extensively in numerous venues in the Washington, DC metro area including the Kennedy Center, the Corcoran, Dance Place and the Publick Playhouse.  Tammy has been dancing since the age of five.  Her repertoire also includes ballet, tap, jazz, ballroom and belly dance.