Bay Atlantic Symphony will blend rhythmic, soulful Flamenco dance with a layered, immersive orchestra in its “Exhilarating Contrasts” concert. The program includes three works: Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” and Manuel de Falla’s “El Amor Brujo.”
It is in de Falla’s dramatic tale that Flamenco Dancer Liliana Ruiz and Mezzo-Soprano Barbara Dever take center stage. Ruiz’s expressive dancing interprets the story of Candela, a woman haunted by her jealous lover’s ghost. Ruiz will draw upon a lifetime of dance and an intimate understanding of Candela’s emotional journey to transport the audience into the story.
For Ruiz, Flamenco is more than choreography and sequencing — it’s a way of channeling and communicating emotion through movement, bringing each step alive with energy.
When approaching an intense piece like “El Amor Brujo,” Ruiz shared that she gives herself time to get in touch with the feeling, to reach the abstract, to project that which doesn’t exist.
“It has to be artistic, it has to be powerful and it has to be truth,” she said. Narrating Manuel de Falla’s tale through Flamenco alone in a way the audience can smoothly follow is no small task.
Dancing Flamenco Since Age 9
Luckily, Ruiz has the depth of experience to perform “El Amor Brujo.” Raised in Mexico City, she began ballet at six and discovered Flamenco at nine, immediately telling her mother, “I want to do that.”
True to her word she’s been dancing Flamenco ever since. While her illustrious career began in Mexico, Ruiz moved to the U.S. in 2000, performing across the Mid-Atlantic region and teaching Flamenco in her Philadelphia studio.
She first performed “El Amor Brujo” with Bay Atlantic Symphony in the late 2000s. To be invited back for another performance is an honor Ruiz is incredibly thankful for. She sees it as proof that the Symphony values her work.
“Knowing that Bay Atlantic Symphony believes in me and trusts me to be part of this Concert makes me want to give everything I have to my performance,” Ruiz said.
And that she will. In Flamenco, the more lived experiences a dancer holds, the deeper they can connect to the stories they interpret, according to Ruiz. This time, Ruiz says she has more to feel, more to express and a greater understanding of how to deliver the story than when she previously performed it.
When she interprets “El Amor Brujo,” she’s not just Liliana Ruiz — she’s also Candela, and she knows the Candela she can do today is stronger than her past performances. “There’s more weight, more experience, more pain,” Ruiz said. “I feel like I have jumped to another level, beyond just following steps. Now, I dance.”
Ruiz Enlivens Passions with Movement
Bringing a story to life through Flamenco requires the dancer to cast off their identity and fully embrace the character they’re portraying. The weight of Flamenco is very real, and it can’t be faked. Ruiz shared that expressing real situations through Flamenco has healed her soul and helped her grow as a person. “It carries emotion, passion and feelings,” said Ruiz.
To illustrate the preparation a Flamenco performance demands, Ruiz notes that a four-minute sequence usually requires 16 hours of work. Bay Atlantic Symphony’s Music Director Jed Gaylin first contacted her about the opportunity a year ago, and she has been preparing for the March concert over the past few months. Already familiar with the music, Ruiz is careful not to over-rehearse, wary of letting her movements become too regimented.
New to Flamenco and attending one of the March 21 or 22 performances? Ruiz advises audience members to leave their lives behind when entering the auditorium. “Connect with the music, connect with the dance, live in the moment and enjoy the interpretation,” she says. It can be quite an emotional experience.
Ruiz performs Flamenco dance in de Falla’s El Amor Brujo at Bay Atlantic Symphony’s “Extraordinary Contrasts” concert on Saturday, March 21, at 3 p.m. at Rowan College of South Jersey in Vineland and Sunday, March 22, at 2 p.m. at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center in Galloway Township. Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll will also be performed.
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