Douglasville, Georgia – The Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/ Douglas County (CAC) presents cultural and educational performances to the Douglas County school system each month during the school year, and this September their ARTSventures season continued with two performances at Bill Arp Elementary School on Tuesday, September 29th. In honor of Hispanic heritage month, students experienced two Flamenco performances and an after-school workshop by Berdolé Flamenco, known for their work on stage and in educational projects.
Berdolé is a management and production company that creates live flamenco programming for performance. Their work focuses on the traditional elements of flamenco: guitar, song, dance, and rhythmic hand clapping. Flamenco, which originated in Andalusia Spain in the 15th century, remains a vibrant part of Spanish culture and is popular throughout the world to this day. In fact, there has been a resurgence of interest in the artform in recent years due to the commitment of experts, like Berdolé, to pass their knowledge on
to people of all ages and cultures. Flamenco dancing is one of the more accessible forms of traditional dance because it uses a single, uniting rhythm that informs all steps and movements. Though the motions themselves might become complex, the underlying, basic rhythm allows all skill levels to participate.
In addition to being compelling to watch and perform, Flamenco has a rich cultural and political history. Its forms reflect the many social changes that occurred in Spain from the 1400’s until today. Luciana Vinci, arts coordinator for the CAC, noted the valuable service Berdolé provided, saying, “Julie and her team are amazing. They always do such a wonderful job providing an entertaining and educational program to the students, and they get to learn a little bit more about Hispanic Heritage month in the process.” One Bill Arp Elementary School teacher added, “The performance was amazing! Berdolé did a fantastic job integrating the performing arts, literacy, and social emotional learning!”
The ARTSventures program, run by the CAC, enriches the local community by connecting educators, artists and students in Douglas County. Funding for ARTSventures comes from the GreyStone Power Foundation, Georgia Council for the Arts, Elevate Douglas, and the Douglas County School System. The Cultural Arts Council is located at 8652 Campbellton Street in historic downtown Douglasville and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information visit artsdouglas.org or contact the CAC at 770-949-2787.