Join Abrepaso Flamenco, NE Ohio’s premiere flamenco music and dance company for their first tablao of 2024 – featuring two special guests: Marija Temo (previously seen on La Voz) and Wendy Clinard of Clinard Dance Chicago along with dancers and musicians of Abrepaso Flamenco.

A tablao is flamenco in its rawest form, featuring the energizing improvisation of pure flamenco just as you’d experience in the cafes in Spain. There’s nothing quite like the energy that a tablao produces as the audience can feel the rhythms of flamenco in the cabaret-like setting.

Marija Temo joins Abrepaso once again for this performance. Temo is a classical/flamenco guitarist, flamenco vocalist, conductor, and former dancer. She has come into her own, combining her flamenco and classical abilities in unique types of performance. “Challenging the rules of traditional flamenco…She continues to break new ground…” Philadelphia Inquirer. A few highlights include: Vocal contestant on La Voz US, NBC TV; Composer, Arranger, Accompanist for the “Flamenco Nutcracker” production; Performer and judge at The Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Festival and Competition; Performer with the Zac Brown Band, and has had two works for guitar and written for her by Loris Chobanian. Temo is Guitar Chair at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee, WI. She is an alumna of Baldwin- Wallace College and Peabody Conservatory of Music. www.marijatemo.com

Wendy Clinard joins Abrepaso again in NE Ohio (last time was February 2020). Clinard is the Artistic Director of Clinard Dance Theatre, a global interdisciplinary ensemble founded in 1999. After completing a BFA at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1993, Clinard embarked on a rigorous apprenticeship with flamenco dancer Edo Sie and augmented her studies in Spain. Clinard is the principal instructor at Clinard Dance Theatre Studio, located in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, where she runs their adult and pre professional dance school. Through her company work Clinard has been an invited choreographer to Jacob’s Pillow (Summer 2000) and The Birmingham Royal Ballet (Birmingham England, Fall 2001). The company has participated in a guest residency at the Hambidge Center in Rapbun, Georgia (Summer 2002) and at The Chicago Cultural Center’s Dance Bridge Program (fall 2006 and Jan. 2010). Wendy has been a soloist and collaborator with Las Guitarras de España since 1999. www.clinardance.org

Abrepaso Flamenco is a nonprofit 501(c)3 arts and culture organization dedicated to sharing flamenco in NE Ohio and beyond through performances and educational programs. We aim to create new entry points into flamenco and new pathways within the form, reminding audiences and participants of our shared humanity. www.abrepaso.org

This performance is supported in part by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council