AS Carolina Lugo and Carolina Acua circle one another in the center of the dance floor, their long flamenco skirts follow behind their bodies and their arms wrap around each other's waists.
They are rehearsing an excerpt from the classical Spanish ballet "Fuego Fatuo" for their dance company's third annual concert season. Acua plays the innocent wife; Lugo plays the lure for the cheating husband.
Their quick, hard steps and soft, poetic moves show the pairing of flamenco and ballet that the company's director, Lugo, is known for in the Bay Area. This will be the first time that Lugo performs a duet with her 19-year-old daughter, Acua, one of the principal dancers in Lugo's company, Brisa de Espaa.
This will also be the first time Lugo introduces yet another form of Latin dance, the tango of Argentina. For last year's concert, she fused Brazilian music into her mix.
"Both the Argentine tango and the Spanish flamenco were born out of the same repression," says Lugo during a break from rehearsals at Dance Connections in Concord. "They began with the oppressed people in Argentina and the gypsies in Spain."
Neither forms of dancing were well-received by the elites until this century, Lugo says, and only now is flamenco welcomed into the cabaret scene in the United States and abroad.
The cabaret is where Brisas de Espaa got its start five years ago; members of the company perform throughout the year at La Otra Espaa, a Spanish restaurant in Walnut Creek.
But the concert season is when the company gets to bring its show to the larger audience, as well as bring in guest artists from all over the world.
This year's show, once again at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, will feature 10 dancers, including two tango dancers: Pampa Cortes from Argentina, who toured with "Forever Tango," and Valeria from France. Also performing will be the Argentine tango band Parlando, and from Mexico City, flamenco guitarist Jorge Liceaga and dancer Marco Salcedo.
As is the tradition for flamenco, the musicians share the stage with the performers and follow the rhythmic lead of the dancers. Singers Roberto Zamora and Virginia Juan also share in the hand clapping and foot tapping that provide the percussive accompaniment to the dancers' own flamenco shoes, castanets and hand claps.
"The fusion is of the music and the dance," says Lugo, who has incorporated solo and duet tango movements with flamenco for the world premiere of "Eyes of Passion."
Lugo has also choreographed ballet into other classical Spanish dance numbers, one of which will have three dancers go on point -- something she has never before paired with flamenco. All of her dancers have ballet training and one, Devon LaRussa, is also a member of the Oakland Ballet.
"It is a requirement for my company to have ballet background," says Lugo. "Ballet is the mother of all dance, so a dancer can adapt to any form of dance and I can use different styles of dance forms in (flamenco)."
Lugo's fusion of ballet, flamenco and tango provides for sharp changes in movement and rhythm, sight and sound.
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Following Sunday's matinee, a "Meet the Artists Gala" will feature tapas and dancing at La Otra Espaa, 2300 N. Main St., Walnut Creek. Also, concert and dinner packages are available for those who wish to dine before any show. For more information, call (925) 934-1535.
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You can e-mail Jennifer Baldwin atmailto:jbaldwin@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4814.
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