 | Antonia Mercé, “LaArgentina” Antonia Mercé, stage-named La Argentina, was the most celebrated Spanish dancer of the early 20th century. Her intensive musical and theatrical collaborations with members of the Spanish vanguard -- Manuel de Falla, Frederico García Lorca, Enrique Granados, Néstor de la Torre, Joaquín Nín, and with renowned Andalusian Gypsy dancers -- reflect her importance as an artistic symbol for contemporary Spain and its cultural history. When she died in 1936, newspapers around the world mourned the passing of the "Flamenco Pavlova." NINOTCKA DEVORAH BENNAHUM, choreographer, cultural historian, and native of New Mexico, is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Performance Studies and Theater at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. In 1986, she received her doctorate in Performance Studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 1991, she founded The Route 66 Dance Company to bring flamenco, modern, and ballet dancers and musicians together. She is contributing editor for Dance Magazine. She writes on ballet and flamenco dance for The Village Voice, the New York Times, the Albuquerque Journal, and elsewhere and teaches dance history for American Ballet Theater's summer intensive program for pre-professional dancers in New York City. She lives in SoHo, New York. |
