BRINGING THE FLAMENCO CULTURE TO DANBURY

Rachel Holmes began her dance journey at the age of three with ballet and tap classes in northern New Jersey. As an adult, she began training in flamenco under the guidance of Melinda Marquez Flamenco Dance Center (MMFDC) in Connecticut. She has continued to develop her training under Nelida Tirado, Mercedes Ruiz, Patricia Guerrero, Carmen Ledesma, Carmela Greco, Irene Rodriguez, and Xianix Barrera, recently forming part of the Xianix Barrera Flamenco Dance Company (XBF).

 In 2019, Rachel was selected to perform in the Jacob's Pillow International Flamenco and Spanish Dance Program in Becket, Massachusetts. Rachel has taught flamenco dance at MMFDC and can be seen performing regularly at tablaos and special events in Connecticut with Yohanna Escamilla, and in New York with singer/guitarist Cristian Puig and XBF. When not dancing, Rachel leads The Nature Conservancy's urban forestry efforts nationally, and serves as a Connecticut wildland firefighter on national wildfire mobilizations.

Yohanna Escamilla, a native of Bogotá, Colombia, has dedicated the last 15 years of her life to learn, perform, and teach the Art of Flamenco. Escamilla has performed in different stages in Connecticut, such as The Palace Theatre, Norwalk City Hall, and  the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, among others. She  was selected as 1 of the 10 finalists to compete in The 2nd Annual  New York State Flamenco Certamen, held in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center in October 2015. In May 2017, Yohanna was honored by Norwalk Mayor Harry W. Rilling for her professional accomplishments and community engagement  through her art. On April 2019 she was awarded a Jacob's Pillow Scholarship to attend the Flamenco & Spanish Dance Program at The School at Jacob's Pillow.

Guitarist and Flamenco singer. He finished studies in Music Education at the University of Cádiz and later studied 5 years at the Royal Conservatory of Cádiz. Passionate and devoted to Flamenco.